THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  ORIENT 

GEORGE  HAMLIN  FITCH 


CAL        .  :\\  COL 
\H  CHJNA 


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in  2007  with  funding  from 

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THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  ORIENT 


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THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  ORIENT 


GEORGE  HAMLIN  J'lTCH 

AUTHOR  OF 

"COMFORT  FOUND  IN  GOOD  OLD  BOOKS" 

"MODERN  ENGLISH  BOOKS  OF  POWER" 

"THE  CRITIC  IN  THE  OCCIDENT" 


Eatt  it  East  and  Wtst  is  fFtst  and 

never  the  ttoain  thall  meet^ 

Till  Earth  and  Sky  stand  presently 

at  God's  great  Judgment  Seat. 

—Kifling 


ILLUSTRATED 

FROM 

PHOTOGRAPHS 


PAUL  ELDER  AND  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 


Copyright,  igij 
by  Paul  Elder  and  Company 

The  chapters  of  this 

book  appeared  originally  in  the 

Sunday  supplement  of  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle, 

The  privilege  of  reproducing  them 

here  is  due  to  the  courtesy  of 

M.  H.  dc  Young,  Esq. 

The  author  is  greatly 

indebted  to  Isaac  O.  Upham,Esq., 

for  the  fine  photographs  which  illustrate  the 

lection  on  Japan  and  for  several 

photographs  of  Indian 

scenes 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

q  ^  r  ■ !  V    C  A li IJ ARA  COJ . LEO C  LI  D R ART 


TO  MY  FELLOW  TOURISTS 

ON  THE  MINNESOTA,  WHOSE 

COMPANIONSHIP  MADE  MANY 

TEDIOUS  JOURNEYS  BY  LAND 

AND  SEA  ENJOYABLE 


Contents 

Introduction ix 

The  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient  .        .        .  xin 

Japan,  The  Picture  Country  of  the  Orient      ...  i 

First  Impressions  of  Japan  and  the  Life  of  the  Japanese— 
The  Japanese  Capital  and  its  Paries  and  Temples-The 
Most  Famous  City  of  Temples  in  all  Japan— In  Kyoto, 
The  Ancient  Capital  of  Japan-Kobe,  Osaka,  The  Inland 
Sea  and  Nagasaki-Development  of  the  Japanese  Sense  of 
Beauty— Conclusions  on  Japanese  Life  and  Charadler- 
Will  the  Japanese  Retain  Their  Good  Traits? 

Manila,  Transformed  by  the  Americans     ....       49 
First  Impressions  of  Manila  and  Its  Pifluresque  People- 
American  Work  in  the  Philippine  Islands- Scenes  in  the 
City  of  Manila  and  Suburbs. 

Hongkong,  Canton,  Singapore  and  Rangoon  ...  63 
Hongkong,  the  Greatest  British  Port  in  the  Oricnt-A 
Visit  to  Canton  in  Days  of  Wild  Panic- Singapore,  the 
Meeting  Place  of  Many  Races- Strange  Night  Scenes  in 
the  City  of  Singapore— Charaftcristic  Sights  in  Burma's 
Largest  City. 

India,  The  Land  of  Temples,  Palaces  and  Monuments  .  93 
Calcutta,  the  Most  Beautiful  of  Oriental  Cities— Bathing, 
and  Burning  the  Dead  at  Benares— Lucknow  and  Cawn- 
pore.  Cities  of  the  Mutiny— The  Taj  Mahal,  the  World's 
Loveliest  Building— Delhi  and  Its  Ancient  Mohammedan 
Ruins— Scenes  in  Bombay  When  the  King  Arrived— Re- 
ligion and  Customs  of  the  Bombay  Parsecs. 

Egypt,  The  Home  of  Hieroglyphs,  Tombs  and  Mummies  .     135 
Pifturcsque  Oriental  Life  as  Seen  in  Cairo— Among  the 
Ruins  of  Luxor  and  Karnak— Tombs  of  The  Kings  at 
Ancient  Thebes— Sailing  Down  the  Nile  on  a  Small 
Steamer— Before  the  Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx. 

Hints  for  Travelers  167 

Some  Suggestions  That  May  Save  the  Tourist  Time  and 
Money. 

Bibliography    .        . 171 

Books  Which  Help  One  to  Understand  the  Orient  and 
Its  People. 

Index        . 175 


[V] 


Illustrations 

The  Taj  Mahal  at  Agra        ....        Frontispiece  pag« 

The  Yomei-mori  Gate,  leyasu  Temple,  Nikko  .       Facing  14 

The  Daibutsu  or  Great  Bronze  Buddha  at  Hyogo       .        .  30 

Imperial  Gate,  Fort  Santiago,  Manila        ....  56 

The  City  of  Boats  at  Canton 74 

Hindoos  Bathing  in  the  Ganges  at  Benares      ...  100 

Front  View  of  the  Taj  Mahal,  Agra II4 

One  of  the  Main  Avenues  of  Bombay       ....  1 26 

The  Great  Hypostyle  Hall  at  Karnak 146 

Plates 

Japan Following  page  48  Platb 

Street  Scene,  Asakusa  Park,  Tokyo i 

Entrance  Hall  of  Modern  Home  of  a  Tokyo  Millionaire  u 

Bronze  Lanternsand  Sacred  Fountain,  Shiba  Temple, Tokyo  m 

Sacred  Red  Bridge  at  Nikko iv 

Avenue  of  Cryptomeria  to  Futaaru  Temple,  Nikko        .  v 

Avenue  of  Cryptomeria  Trees,  near  Nikko  ...  vi 

Great  Bronze  Torii,  Nikko vii 

Stone  Lanterns,  Kasuga  Temple  Park,  Nara        .        .  viu 

Religious  Procession,  Kyoto ix 

Scene  on  Canal,  Kyoto x 

Street  Scene  in  Kobe    ,.....,.  xi 

A  Group  of  Japanese  Schoolboys xn 

Japanese  Peasant  Group  by  the  Roadside  ....  xni 

Scene  in  Large  Private  Garden,  Kyoto ....  xiv 

Iris  Bed  at  Horikiri,  near  Tokyo xv 

Private  Garden,  Kamakura xvi 

Manila Follotoing  page  6z 

A  Glimpse  of  the  Escolta,  Manila xvn 

Old  Church  and  Bridge  at  Pasig xviii 

The  Binondo  Canal  at  Manila xix 

On  the  Malecon  Drive,  Manila xx 

View  on  a  Manila  Canal xxi 

A  Filipino  Peasant  Girl  on  the  Way  to  Market  .       .  xxii 

The  Carabao  Cart  in  the  Philippines xxiii 

The  Nipa  Hut  of  the  Filipino xxiv 

[v„] 


34 


Plates 

Hongkong,  Canton,  Singapore,  Rangoon  Follotoingpagegz 

Queen's  Road  in  Hongkong 

Flower  Market  in  a  Hongkong  Street 

Coolies  Carrying  Burdens  at  Hongkong 

The  Spacious  Foreign  Bund  at  Hongkong. 

Chinese  Junks  in  Hongkong  Harbor 

View  of  the  Water-front  at  Canton  .... 

The  New  Chinese  Bund  at  Canton 

A  Confucian  Festival  at  Singapore     .... 

A  Main  Street  in  the  Native  Quarter  of  Singapore 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building  at  Singapore 

The  Great  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda  at  Rangoon 

Entrance  to  the  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda 

Burmese  Worshipping  in  the  Pagoda  at  Rangoon 

Riverside  Scene  at  Rangoon 

Trained  Elephant  Piling  Teak  at  Rangoon 

Palm  Avenue,  Royal  Lakes,  Rangoon 
India Following  page 

One  of  the  Main  Gates  to  Government  House,  Calcutta 

A  Street  Scene  in  Calcutta 

The  Great  Burning  Ghat  at  Benares 

View  of  the  Bathing  Ghats  at  Benares  . 

A  Holy  Man  of  Benares  Under  His  Umbrella 

The  Residency  at  Lucknow 

Tomb  of  Itmad-ul-Daulet  at  Agra    . 

The  Mutiny  Memorial  at  Cawnpore   , 

Detail  of  Carving  in  the  Jasmine  Tower,  Agra 

The  Jasmine  Tower  in  Agra  Fort 

Snap-shot  of  a  Jain  Family  at  Agra  . 

The  Fort  at  Agra  Which  Encloses  Many  Palaces 

Kutab  Minar,  the  Arch  and  the  Iron  Pillar,  near  Delhi 

Shah  Jehan's  Heaven  on  Earth,  Delhi 

Street  View  in  Delhi 

A  Parsee  Tower  of  Silence  at  Bombay 
Egypt Following  page 

A  Typical  Street  in  Old  Cairo     .... 

An  Arab  Cafe  in  One  of  Cairo's  Streets 

Women  Water  Carriers  in  Turkish  Costume 

The  Rameseon  at  Karnak 

The  Avenue  of  Sphinxes  at  Karnak     . 

An  Arab  Village  on  the  Nile    ..... 

The  Colossi  of  Memnon,  near  Thebes 

The  Great  Sphinx,  Showing  the  Temple  Underneath 


64 


Pass 
XXV 
XXVI 

XXVII 

XXVIII 

XXIX 

XXX 

XXXI 

XXXII 

XXXIII 

XXXIV 

XXXV 

ZXXVI 

XXXVIl 

XXXVIII 

XXXIX 

XL 

XLI 

ZLU 

XLIU 

ZLIV 

XLV 

XLVI 

XLVII 

XL  VIII 

XLIX 

L 

LI 

LII 

LIII 

LIV 

LV 

LVI 

LVU 
LVIII 

ux 

LX 
LZI 

LXII 
LXIII 
LXIV 


[Vlll] 


IntroduElion 

7*HIS  book  of  impressions  of  the  Far  East  is  called 
^^The  Critic  in  the  Orient,^  because  the  writer  for 
over  thirty  years  has  been  a  professional  critic  of  new 
books— one  trained  to  get  at  the  best  in  all  literary  works 
and  reveal  it  to  the  reader.  This  critical  work— a  com- 
bination of  rapid  reading  and  equally  rapid  written 
estimate  of  new  publications— would  have  been  deadly, 
save  for  a  love  of  books,  so  deep  and  enduring  that  it 
has  turned  drudgery  into  pastime  and  an  enthusiasm  for 
discovering  good  things  in  every  new  book  which  no 
amount  of  literary  trash  was  ever  able  to  smother. 

After  years  of  such  strenuous  critical  work,  the 
mind  becomes  molded  in  a  certain  cast.  It  is  as  im- 
possible for  me  to  put  aside  the  habit  of  the  literary 
critic  as  it  would  be  for  a  hunter  who  had  spent  his 
whole  life  in  the  woods  to  be  content  in  a  great  city.  So 
when  I  started  out  on  this  trip  around  the  world  the 
critical  apparatus  which  I  had  used  in  getting  at  the 
heart  of  books  was  applied  to  the  people  and  the  places 
along  this  great  girdle  about  the  globe. 

Much  of  the  benefit  of  foreign  travel  depends  upon 
the  reading  that  one  has  done.  For  years  my  eager  curi- 
osity about  places  had  led  me  to  read  everything  printed 
about  the  Orient  and  the  South  Seas.  Add  to  this  the 
stories  which  were  brought  into  a  newspaper  office  by 
globe  trotters  and  adventurers,  and  you  have  an  equip- 
ment which  made  me  at  times  seem  to  be  merely  revis- 
ing impressions  made  on  an  earlier  journey.  When  you 
talk  with  a  man  who  has  spent  ten  or  twenty  years  in 
Japan  or  China  or  the  Straits  Settlements,  you  cannot 
fail  to  get  something  of  the  color  of  life  in  those  strange 
lands,  especially  if  you  have  the  newspaper  training 


IntroduSlion 

which  impels  you  to  ask  questions  and  to  drag  out  of 
your  informant  everything  of  human  interest  that  the 
reader  will  care  to  know. 

This  newspaper  ins  tine  t^  which  is  developed  by  train- 
ing but  which  one  must  possess  in  large  measure  before 
he  can  be  successful  in  journalism^  seizes  upon  everything 
and  transmutes  it  into"copy"for  the  printer.  To  have 
taken  this  journey  without  setting  down  every  day  my 
impressions  of  places  and  people  would  have  been  a  tire- 
some experience.  What  seemed  labor  to  others  who  had 
not  had  my  special  training  was  as  the  breath  in  my 
nostrils.  Even  in  the  debilitating  heat  of  the  tropics  it 
was  always  a  pastime^  never  a  task,  to  put  into  words 
my  ideas  of  the  historic  places  which  I  knew  so  well 
from  years  of  reading  and  which  I  had  just  seen.  And 
the  richer  the  background  of  history^  the  greater  was 
my  enjoyment  in  painting  with  words  full  of  color  a  pic- 
ture of  my  impressions, for  the  benefit  of  those  who  were 
not  able  to  share  my  pleasure  in  the  actual  sight  of  these 
famous  places  of  the  Far  East. 

From  the  mass  of  newspaper  letters  written  while 
every  impression  was  sharp  and  clear,  I  have  selected 
what  seemed  to  me  most  significant  and  illustrative.  It 
is  only  when  the  traveler  looks  back  over  a  journey  that 
he  gets  the  true  perspective.  Then  only  is  he  able  to  see 
what  is  of  general  and  permanent  interest.  Most  of  the 
vexations  of  travel  I  have  eliminated,  as  these  lose  their 
force  once  they  have  gone  over  into  yesterday.  What 
remains  is  the  beauty  of  scenery,  the  grandeur  of  archi- 
tecture, the  spiritual  quality  of  famous  paintings  and 
statues,  the  appealing  traits  of  various  peoples. 


W 


The  Best 

Results  of  Travel  in 

the  Orient 


The  Best 

Results  of  Travel  in 

the  Orient 


rHIS  volume  includes  impressions  of  the  first  half 
of  a  trip  around  the  world.  The  remainder  of  the 
journey  will  fill  a  companion  volume^  which  will  com- 
prise two  chapters  devoted  to  New  York  and  the  effeSi 
it  produced  on  me  after  seeing  the  great  cities  of  the 
world.  As  I  have  said  in  the  preface,  these  are  neces- 
sarily first  impressions,  jotted  down  when  fresh  and 
clear;  but  it  is  doubtful  whet  her  a  month  spent  in  any  of 
these  places  would  have  forced  a  revision  of  these  first 
glimpses,  set  in  the  mordant  of  curiosity  and  enthusiasm, 
IV hen  the  mind  is  saturated  with  the  literature  of  a 
place,  it  is  quick  to  seize  on  what  appeals  to  the  imagi- 
nation, and  this  appeal  is  the  one  which  must  be  con- 
sidered in  every  case  where  there  is  an  historical  or  le- 
gendary background  to  give  salient  relief  to  palace  or  tem- 
ple, statue  or  painting.  Without  this  background  the  no- 
blest work  seems  dull  and  lifeless.  With  it  the  palace 
stamps  itself  upon  the  imagination,  the  temple  stirs  the 
emotions,  the  statue  speaks,  the  painting  has  a  direct 
spiritual  message. 

Certain  parts  of  the  Orient  are  not  rich  in  this  im- 
aginative material  which  appeals  to  one  fond  of  history 
or  art;  but  this  defe£t  is  compensated  for  by  an  extraor- 
dinary pi£turesqueness  of  life  and  a  wonderful  luxuriance 
of  nature.  The  Oriental  trip  also  makes  less  demand  on 
one*s  reading  than  even  a  hasty  journey  through  Europe. 
There  are  few  piSfures,  few  statues.   Only  India  and 

[xiii] 


The  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

Egypt  appeal  to  the  sense  of  the  historical,  Japan 
stands  alone,  alien  to  all  our  ways  of  life  and  thought y 
but  so  intensely  artistic,  so  saturated  with  the  intellec- 
tual spirit  that  it  seems  to  belong  to  another  world  than 
this  material,  commercial  existence  that  stamps  all 
European  and  American  life.  'The  new  China  furnishes 
an  attra^ive  field  of  study,  but  unfortunately  when  I 
visited  the  country  it  was  in  the  throes  of  revolution  and 
travel  was  dangerous  anywhere  outside  the  great  treaty 
ports. 

One  of  the  best  results  of  foreign  travel  is  that  it 
makes  one  revise  his  estimate  of  alien  races.  When 
I  started  out  it  was  with  a  strong  prejudice  against  the 
Japanese,  probably  due  to  my  observation  of  some  rather 
unlovely  specimens  whom  I  had  encountered  in  San 
Francisco.  A  short  stay  in  Japan  served  to  give  me  a 
new  point  of  view  in  regard  to  both  the  people  and  the 
country  of  the  Mikado.  It  was  impossible  to  escape 
from  the  fa^  that  here  is  a  race  which  places  loyalty  to 
country  and  personal  honor  higher  than  life,  and  this 
sentiment  was  not  confined  to  the  educated  and  wealthy 
classes  but  was  general  throughout  the  nation.  Here 
also  is  a  people  so  devoted  to  the  culture  of  beauty  that 
they  travel  hundreds  of  miles  to  see  the  annual  chrysan- 
themum and  other  flower  festivals.  And  here  is  a  people 
so  devoted  to  art  for  art's  sake  that  even  the  poor  and 
uneducated  have  little  gardens  in  their  back  yards  and 
houses  which  reveal  a  refined  taste  in  architecture  and 
decoration.  The  poorest  artisans  are  genuine  artists  and 
their  work  shows  a  beauty  and  a  finish  only  to  be  found 
in  the  work  of  the  highest  designers  in  our  country. 

In  one  chapter  of  the  section  on  Japan,  I  have  dwelt 
on  the  ingenious  theory  that  it  is  their  devotion  to  the 
garden  that  has  kept  the  Japanese  from  being  spoiled  by 
the  great  strides  they  have  made  in  the  last  twenty 
years  in  commerce  and  conquest.   To  take  foremost  place 

[xiv] 


The  Best  Results  ofTravelin  the  Orient 

among  the  powers  of  the  world  without  any  preliminary 
struggle  is  an  achievement  which  well  might  turn  the 
heads  of  any  people;  yet  this  exploit  has  simply  confirmed 
the  Japanese  in  the  opinion  that  their  national  training 
has  resulted  in  this  success  that  other  nations  have 
won  only  by  the  expenditure  of  years  of  labor  and  study. 
JVhen  you  see  the  reverence  which  every  one  in  Japan 
shows  at  the  tombs  of  the  Forty-seven  Ronins,  you 
feel  that  here  is  a  spiritual  force  which  is  lacking  in 
every  European  country;  here  is  something,  whether  you 
call  it  loyalty  or  patriotism  or  fanaticism,  which  makes 
even  the  women  and  children  of  Japan  eager  to  sacrifice 
all  that  they  hold  most  dear  on  the  altar  of  their  country. 
No  less  striking  than  their  loyalty  is  the  courtesy  of 
the  Japanese  which  makes  travel  in  their  country  a 
pleasure.  Even  the  poor  and  ignorant  country  people 
show  in  their  mutual  relations  a  politeness  that  would  do 
credit  to  the  most  civilized  race,  while  all  exhibit 
toward  foreigners  a  courtesy  and  consideration  that  is 
often  repaid  by  boorishness  and  insult  on  the  part  of 
tourists  and  foreign  residents  of  Japan,  Another  feature 
of  Japanese  life  that  cannot  fail  to  impress  the  stranger 
is  the  small  weight  that  is  given  to  wealth.  In  their 
relations  with  foreigners  the  governing  class  and  the 
wealthy  people  are  sticklers  for  all  the  conventional 
forms;  but  among  themselves  the  simplicity  of  their  social 
life  is  very  attractive.  Elaborate fun^ions  are  unknown 
and  changes  of  costume,  which  make  women  s  dress  so 
large  an  item  of  family  expense  in  any  European  country, 
are  unnecessary.  Some  of  the  rich  Japanese  are  now  lav- 
ishing money  on  their  homes,  which  are  partly  modeled 
on  European  plans;  but  in  the  main  the  residences,  even  of 
rich  people, are  very  simple  and  unpretentious.  These 
homes  are  filled  with  priceless  porcelains,  jades, paintings 
and  prints,  but  there  is  no  display  merely  for  the  sake  of 
exhibiting  art  treasures. 

[XV] 


The  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

In  Manila  the  American  tourist  has  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  contrast  what  has  been  done  by  his  countrymen 
with  what  the  British  have  accomplished  in  ports  like 
Hongkong  and  Singapore.  Doubtless  the  English  plan 
will  show  the  larger  financial  returns  ^  but  it  is  carried 
out  with  a  selfish  disregard  of  the  interests  of  the  na- 
tives which  stirs  the  gorge  of  an  American.  The 
Englishman  believes  in  keeping  a  wide  gulf  between  the 
dominant  and  the  humble  classes.  He  does  not  believe 
in  educating  the  native  to  think  that  he  can  rise  from 
the  class  in  which  he  is  born.  The  American  scheme 
in  the  Philippines  has  been  to  encourage  the  development 
of  character  and  efficiency,  wherever  found;  and  the  re- 
sult is  that  many  public  positions  are  open  to  men  who 
were  head-hunting  savages  ten  years  ago.  Above  all 
other  things  in  the  Philippines  we  have  proved,  as  we 
have  shown  at  Panama,  that  a  tropical  climate  need  not 
be  an  unhealthful  one.  We  have  banished  from  Man- 
ila cholera,  yellow  fever  and  bubonic  plague  —  three 
pests  that  once  made  it  dreaded  in  the  Orient.  This, 
with  an  ample  water  supply,  is  an  achievement  worthy 
of  pride,  when  one  contrasts  it  with  the  unsanitary 
sewerage  system  of  Hongkong  and  Singapore. 

The  small  part  of  the  great  Chinese  Empire  which 
I  was  able  to  see  gave  me  a  vivid  impression  of  the  ac- 
tivity and  enthusiasm  of  the  people  in  spreading  the  new 
Republican  doctrines.  The  way  old  things  have  been  put 
aside  and  the  new  customs  adopted  seems  almost  like  a 
miracle.  Fancy  a  whole  people  discarding  their  time- 
honored  methods  of  examination  for  the  civil  service, along 
with  their  queues,  their  caps  and  their  shoes.  All  the 
authorities  have  predicted  that  China  would  be  centur- 
ies in  showing  the  same  changes  which  the  Japanese  have 
made  in  a  single  generation;  but  recent  events  go  far  to 
prove  that  Japan  will  be  outstripped  in  the  race  for  prog- 
ress by  its  slow-going  neighbor.    What  profoundly  im- 

[xvi] 


The  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

presses  any  visitor  to  China  is  the  stamina  and  the  work- 
ing capacity  of  the  common  people.  'Tireless  laborers  these 
Chinese  are.,  whether  they  work  for  themselves  or  the 
European.  What  they  will  be  able  to  accomplish  with 
labor-saving  machinery  no  one  can  predial.  Certainly 
should  they  accept  modern  methods  of  work,  with  the 
same  enthusiasm  that  they  have  adopted  new  methods 
of  government,  the  markets  of  the  world  will  be  upset 
by  the  product  of  these  four  hundred  million.  China 
is  to-day  in  transformation-fluctuant,  far-reaching, 
limited  only  by  the  capacity  of  a  singularly  excitable 
people  to  absorb  new  ideas. 

In  India  great  is  the  contrast  to  China  and  "Japan. 
Here  is  an  old  civilization,  founded  on  caste:  here  are 
many  peoples  but  all  joined  to  the  worship  of  a  system 
that  says  the  son  must  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  fa- 
ther; that  one  cannot  break  bread  with  a  stranger  of  an- 
other caste  lest  he  and  his  tribe  be  defiled.  Nothing  more 
hideous  was  ever  conceived  than  this  Indian  caste  system^ 
yet  it  has  held  its  own  against  the  force  of  foreign  learn- 
ing and  probably  will  continue  to  fetter  the  development 
of  the  natives  of  India  for  centuries  to  come.  Some  simple 
reforms  the  English  have  secured,  like  the  abolition  of 
suttee  and  the  improved  condition  of  the  child  widows; 
but  their  influence  on  the  great  mass  of  the  people  has 
been  pitiably  small.  India  bears  the  same  relation  to 
the  Orient  that  Italy  does  to  Europe,  It  is  the  home  of 
temples,  palaces  and  monuments;  it  is  the  land  of  beauti- 
ful art  work  in  many  materials.  Most  of  its  cities  have 
a  splendid  historical  past  that  is  seen  in  richly  orna- 
mented temples  and  shrines,  in  the  tombs  of  its  illustri- 
ous dead  and  in  palaces  that  surpass  in  beauty  of  deco- 
ration anything  which  Europe  can  boast. 

In  considering  India  it  must  always  be  borne  in 
mind  that  here  was  the  original  seat  of  the  Aryan  civ- 
ilization and  thatf  though  the  Hindoo  is  as  dark  as 

[xvii] 


The  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

many  of  the  American  negroes  ^  he  is  of  Aryan  stock  like 
ourselves.  In  comparison  with  the  men  who  carried 
Aryan  civilization  throughout  the  world,  the  Hindoo  of 
to-day  is  as  far  removed  as  is  the  modern  Greek  from 
the  Greek  of  the  time  of  Pericles  and  Phidias.  Tet  he 
shows  all  the  signs  of  race  in  clear-cut  features  and  in 
small  hands  and  feet. 

The  journey  throughout  India  is  one  which  calls  for 
some  philosophy,  as  the  train  arrangements  are  never 
good  and,  unless  one  has  the  luck  to  secure  a  competent 
guide,  he  will  be  annoyed  by  the  excessive  greed  of  every 
one  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact.  But  aside  from  such 
troubles  the  trip  is  one  which  richly  repays  the  traveler. 
If  one  has  time  it  is  admirable  to  go  off  the  beaten 
track  to  some  of  the  minor  places  which  have  fine  his- 
torical remains;  but  a  good  idea  of  India  may  be  ob- 
tained by  taking  the  regular  route  from  Calcutta  to  Bom- 
bay, by  way  of  Delhi. 

In  Benares  the  tourist  first  meets  the  swarms  of  beg- 
gars that  make  life  a  burden.  Aged  men,with  loathsome 
sores,  stand  whining  at  corners  beseeching  the  favor  of 
a  two-anna  piece;  blind  men,  led  by  small,  skinny  chil- 
dren, set  up  a  mournful  wail  and  then  curse  you  fluently 
when  you  pass  them  by,  and  scores  of  children  rise  up 
out  of  hovels  at  the  roadside  and  pursue  your  carriage 
with  shrill  screams.  All  are  filthy,  clamorous,  greedy, 
inexpressibly  offensive.  If  you  are  soft  hearted  and  give 
to  one,  then  your  day  is  made  hideous  by  a  swarm  of 
mendicants,  tireless  in  pursuit  and  only  kept  from  actual 
invasion  of  the  carriage  by  fear  of  the  driver's  whip. 

The  feature  which  makes  travel  on  Indian  railways 
a  weariness  of  the  flesh  is  the  roughness  of  the  cars. 
Each  truck  on  the  passenger  cars  is  provided  with  two 
large  wheels,  exaElly  like  those  on  freight  cars,  and  these 
wheels  have  wooden  felloes  and  spokes.  With  poor 
springs  the  result  is  that  though  the  road-bed  is  perfeR 
[xviii] 


T^he  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

the  cars  are  as  rough  as  our  freight  cars.  When  the 
speed  is  over  twenty-five  miles  an  hour  or  the  road  is 
crooked,  the  motion  of  the  cars  is  well  nigh  intolerable. 
Ordinarily  the  motion  is  so  great  that  reading  is  difficult 
and  writing  out  of  the  question.  At  night  the  jar  of  the 
car  is  so  severe  that  one  must  he  very  tired  or  very 
phlegmatic  to  get  any  refreshing  sleep.  When  one  trav- 
els all  day  and  all  night  at  a  stretch— as  in  the  journey 
from  Jeypore  to  Bombay— the  fatigue  is  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  distance  covered.  Infant,  Americans  have 
been  spoiled  by  the  comforts  of  Pullman  sleeping-cars,  in 
which  foreign  critics  find  so  many  flaws.  Probably  the 
chief  annoyance  to  our  party  of  Americans,  aside  from 
the  jar  of  the  cars,  was  the  dust  and  soot  which  poured 
in  day  and  night.  The  engines  burn  soft  coal  and  the 
dust  on  the  road-beds  is  excessive.  A  system  of  double 
windows  and  well-fitting  screens  would  remove  this  nui- 
sance, but  apparently  the  British  in  India  think  dust 
and  grime  necessary  features  of  railway  travel,  for  no 
effort  is  made  to  eliminate  them. 

No  Oriental  trip  would  be  complete  without  a  visit 
to  Egypt,  and  especially  a  ride  on  the  Nile.  It  is  more 
difficult  to  make  anyone  realize  the  charm  of  Egypt  than 
of  any  other  country  of  the  Orient.  The  people  are  dirty, 
ignorant,  brutish:  their  faces  contain  no  appeal  because 
they  are  the  faces  of  Millet' s^'The  Man  With  the  Hoe." 
Centuries  of  subjection  have  killed  the  pride  which  still 
lingers  in  the  face  and  bearing  of  the  poorest  Arab;  the 
Egyptian  peasant  does  not  wear  the  collar  of  Gurth,  but 
he  is  a  slave  of  the  soil  whose  day  of  freedom  is  afar  off. 
Tet  these  degenerate  people  are  seen  against  a  background 
of  the  most  imposing  ruins  in  the  world.  Luxor  and 
Karnak  and  the  tombs  of  the  kings  near  old  Thebes  con- 
tain enough  remains  of  the  splendor  of  ancient  Egyptian 
life  to  permit  study  for  years.  The  mind  is  appalled  by 
this  mass  of  temples,  monuments,  obelisks  and  colossal 

[xix] 


T^he  Best  Results  of  Travel  in  the  Orient 

statues.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  the  same  people  who^ 
are  seen  toiling  in  the  fields  to-day  raised  these  huge  mon- 
uments to  perpetuate  the  names  of  their  rulers.  A  cli- 
mate as  dry  as  that  of  the  Colorado  desert  has  preserved 
these  remains,  so  that  in  the  rock  tombs  one  may  gaze 
upon  brightly  painted  hieroglyphs  of  the  time  of  Moses 
that  look  as  though  they  were  carved  yesterday. 

In  this  Oriental  tour  the  stamp  of  strange  religions 
is  over  all  the  lands.  'The  temple  is  the  keynote  of  each 
race.  And  religion  with  the  Oriental  is  not  a  matter 
of  one  days  worship  in  seven:  it  is  a  vital,  daily  fun5lion 
into  which  he  puts  all  the  dreamy  mysticism  of  his  race. 
The  first  sight  of  several  Mohammedans  bowed  in  the 
dust  by  the  roadside  ywith  their  faces  set  toward  Mecca, 
gives  one  a  strange  thrill,  but  this  spectacle  soon  loses 
its  novelty.  Everywhere  in  the  Far  East  religion  is  a 
matter  of  form  and  ceremony:  it  includes  regular  visits 
to  the  temple  and  regular  prayers  and  offerings  to  the 
deities  enshrined  in  these  houses  of  worship.  But  it  also 
includes  a  daily  ritual  that  must  be  observed  at  certain 
fixed  hours,  even  though  the  believer  may  be  in  the  midst 
of  the  crowded  market  place.  The  spiritual  isolation  of 
an  Oriental  at  his  prayers  in  any  big  city  of  the  Far 
East  is  the  most  significant  feature  of  this  life— so  alien 
to  all  the  mental,  moral,  and  religious  training  of  the 
Occident.  Vain  is  it  for  one  of  Anglo-Saxon  strain  to 
attempt  to  bridge  this  abyss  that  lies  between  his  mind 
and  that  of  the  Bur  man  or  the  Par  see.  Each  lives  in  a 
spiritual  world  of  his  own  and  each  would  be  homesick 
for  heaven  were  he  transferred  to  the  ideal  paradise  of 
the  other.  So  the  traveler  in  the  Orient  should  give 
heed  to  the  temples,  for  in  them  is  voiced  the  spiritual 
aspirations  of  the  people,  who  have  little  of  comfort  or 
hope  to  cheer  them  in  this  world. 


[XX] 


JAPAN,  THE 

PICTURE  COUNTRY  OF 

THE  ORIENT 


First  Impressions 

OF  Japan  and  The  Life  of 

The  Japanese 


YOKOHAMA  looks  very  beautiful  to  the  traveler 
who  has  spent  over  two  weeks  on  the  long  sea 
voyage  from  Seattle;  but  it  has  little  to  com- 
mend it  to  the  tourist,  for  most  of  its  native  traits 
have  been  Europeanized.  It  is  noteworthy, however, 
as  the  best  place  except  Hongkong  for  the  traveler 
to  purchase  an  oriental  outfit  and  it  is  probably  the 
cheapest  place  in  the  world  for  trunks  and  bags  and 
all  leather  goods.  Its  bund,  or  water-front,  is  spa- 
cious and  its  leading  hotels  are  very  comfortable. 

Of  Japan  and  the  Japanese,  all  that  can  be  given 
are  a  few  general  impressions  of  the  result  of  two 
weeks  of  constant  travel  over  the  empire  and  of  talks 
with  many  people. 

Of  the  country  itself,  the  prevailing  impression 
of  the  tourist,  who  crosses  it  on  the  railroad  or  who 
takes  rides  through  the  paddy  fields  in  a  rickshaw, 
is  of  a  perennial  greenness.  Instead  of  the  tawny 
yellow  of  California  in  Odober,  one  sees  here  miles 
on  miles  of  rice  fields,  some  of  vivid  green,  others  of 
green  turning  to  gold.  The  foothills  of  the  moun- 
tains remind  one  of  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada, as  they  all  bear  evidences  of  the  rounding 
and  smoothing  of  glacial  adion. 

At  a  distance  the  rice  fields  look  like  grain  fields, 
but  seen  near  at  hand  they  are  found  to  be  great 
swamps  of  water,  with  row  on  row  of  rice,  the  dead 

[3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

furrows  cither  serving  as  ditches  or  as  raised  paths 
across  the  fields.  Every  bit  of  hillside  is  terraced  and 
planted  to  rice  or  vegetables  or  fruit. 

Often  these  little,  terraced  fields,  which  look  like 
the  natural  mesa  of  southern  California,  will  not  be 
over  fifty  feet  long  by  ten  or  fifteen  feet  wide.  Be- 
tween the  rows  of  fruit  trees  are  vegetables  or  corn 
or  sorghum.  The  farmers  live  in  little  villages  and 
apparently  go  home  every  night  after  tilling  their 
fields.  There  are  none  of  the  scattered  farmhouses, 
with  trees  around  them,  which  are  so  characteristic 
a  feature  of  any  American  rural  scene. 

The  towns  as  well  as  the  cities  show  a  uniform- 
ity of  architecture,  as  most  of  the  shops  are  one  story 
or  a  story  and  one-half,  while  the  residences  seem  to 
be  built  on  a  uniform  plan,  with  great  variety  in  gate- 
ways and  decoration  of  grounds.  Most  of  the  roofs 
are  made  of  a  black  clay,  corrugated  so  that  it  looks 
like  the  Spanish-American  tile,  and  many  of  the  walls 
that  surround  residences  and  temples  are  of  adobe, 
with  a  tiled  covering,  precisely  as  one  sees  to-day  the 
remains  of  adobe  walls  in  old  Spanish-Californian 
towns. 

The  general  impression  of  any  Japanese  city  when 
seen  from  a  height  is  that  of  a  great  expanse  of  low 
buildings  with  a  liberal  sprinkling  of  trees  and  a  few 
pagodas  or  roofs  of  Buddhist  temples. 

The  strongest  impression  that  the  unprejudiced 
observer  receives  in  Japan  is  of  the  small  value  set 
upon  labor  as  well  as  upon  time  by  the  great  mass  of 
the  people.  In  Yokohama  and  in  Kobe,  which  show 
the  most  signs  of  foreign  influence,  the  same  traits 
prevail. 

It  is  one  of  the  astonishing  speftacles  of  the  world, 
this  accomplishment  of  the  business  of  a  great  nation 
by  man  power  alone.    Only  in  one  city,  Osaka,  the 

W 


First  Impressions  of  Japan 

Chicago  of  Japan,  is  there  any  general  evidence  of 
the  adoption  of  up-to-date  methods  in  manufadur- 
ing.  Everywhere  one  sees  all  the  small  industries 
of  the  country  carried  on  in  the  same  way  that  they 
were  conduded  in  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Christ. 

Everywhere  men,  harnessed  to  heavy  push  carts, 
are  seen  straining  to  haul  loads  that  are  enough  for  a 
horse.  The  few  horses  in  the  cities  are  used  for  heavy 
trucks,  in  common  with  bulls,  for  the  Japanese  bull 
is  a  beast  of  burden  and  not  one  of  the  lords  of  crea- 
tion as  in  our  own  country. 

The  bull  is  harnessed  with  a  short  neckyoke  and 
a  saddle  on  his  back,  which  bears  a  close  resemblance 
to  the  riding  saddle  of  the  Cossack.  Some  rope 
traces  are  hitched  to  crude,  home-made  whiffletrees. 
The  bull,  as  well  as  the  horse,  is  guided  by  a  rope 
line.  The  carts  are  remarkably  heavy,  with  wheels 
of  great  weight,  yet  many  of  these  carts  are  pulled 
by  two  men. 

In  the  big  cities  may  be  seen  a  few  vidtorias,  or 
other  carriages,  and  an  occasional  motor  car,  but 
both  these  means  of  conveyance  can  be  used  with 
safety  only  on  the  broadest  avenues.  In  the  narrow 
streets  of  the  native  quarter,  which  seldom  exceed 
ten  feet  in  width  and  which  have  no  sidewalks,  the 
jinrikisha  is  the  only  carriage.  This  is  a  light,  two- 
wheeled  gig,  drawn  by  one  man  and  frequently  on 
the  steep  grades  pushed  from  the  back  by  a  second 
man.  The  rickshaw  man  has  a  bell  gong  on  one 
shaft, which  he  rings  when  approaching  a  sharp  turn 
in  the  street  or  when  he  sees  several  trucks  or  other 
rickshaws  approaching.  The  bell  also  serves  to  warn 
old  people  or  children  who  may  be  careless,  for  the 
rickshaw  has  the  right  of  way  and  the  pedestrian 
must  turn  to  either  side  to  give  it  the  road.  Ameri- 
cans, who  are  far  more  considerate  of  the  feelings  of 

[s] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

the  Japanese  than  other  foreigners,  frequently  may 
be  seen  walking  up  the  steep  grades  in  such  hilly 
cities  as  Nikko,  Nara  and  Kobe,  but  long  residence 
in  Japan  is  said  to  make  everyone  callous  of  the 
straining  and  the  sweating  of  the  rickshaw  man. 

Purposely  my  itinerary  included  a  number  of  lit- 
tle towns,  which  pra(5tically  have  been  uninfluenced 
by  foreign  customs.  In  these  places  may  be  seen 
the  primitive  Japanese  life,  unchanged  for  hundreds 
of  years.  Yet  everywhere  one  cannot  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  tireless  industry  of  the  people,  and 
by  their  general  good  nature  and  courtesy. 

In  any  other  country  in  the  world,  a  party  of 
Americans  with  their  foreign  dress  would  have  pro- 
voked some  insulting  remarks,  some  gestures  that 
could  not  be  mistaken;  but  here  in  rural  Japan  was 
seen  the  same  perfed  courtesy  shown  in  the  Euro- 
peanized  sections  of  the  big  cities.  The  people,  to 
be  sure,  made  no  change  in  their  way  of  life.  Mothers 
suckled  their  infants  in  front  of  their  little  shops, 
and  children  stood  naked  and  unashamed,  lost  in 
wonder  over  the  strange  spedacle  of  the  party  of 
foreign  people  that  dashed  by  in  rickshaws. 

Naked  men,  with  only  a  G-string  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  costume  of  Adam  before  the  expul- 
sion from  Eden,  labored  at  many  tasks,  and  fre- 
quently our  little  cavalcade  swept  by  the  great  Gov- 
ernment schools  where  hundreds  of  little  Japanese 
are  being  educated  to  help  out  the  manifest  destiny 
of  the  empire. 

This  courtesy  and  good  nature  among  the  poorest 
class  of  the  Japanese  people  is  not  confined  to  their 
treatment  of  foreigners;  it  extends  to  all  their  daily 
relations  with  one  another.  A  nearly  naked  coolie 
pulling  a  heavy  cart  begs  a  light  for  his  cigarette 
with  a  bow  that  would  do  honor  to  a  Chesterfield. 

[6] 


First  Impressions  of  Japan 

A  street  blockade  that  in  New  York  or  San  Fran- 
cisco would  not  be  untangled  without  much  profanity 
and  some  police  interference  is  cleared  here  in  a 
moment  because  everyone  is  willing  to  yield  and  to 
recognize  that  the  most  heavily  burdened  has  the 
right  of  way. 

In  all  my  wanderings  by  day  or  night  in  the  large 
Japanese  cities  I  never  except  once  saw  a  policeman 
lift  his^  hand  to  exercise  his  authority.  This  excep- 
tion was  in  Tokio,where  a  band  of  mischievous  school- 
boys was  following  a  party  of  gayly  dressed  ladies 
in  rickshaws  and  laughing  and  chattering.  The  guar- 
dian of  the  peace  admonished  them  with  a  few  short, 
crisp  words,  and  they  scuttled  into  the  nearest  alleys. 

The  industry  of  the  people,  whether  in  city  or 
country,  is  as  amazing  as  their  courtesy.  The  Japa- 
nese work  seven  days  in  the  week,  and  the  year  is 
broken  only  by  a  few  festivals  that  are  generally  ob- 
served by  the  complete  cessation  of  labor.  In  the 
large  cities  work  goes  on  in  most  of  the  shops  until 
ten  or  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  it  is  resumed  at  six 
o'clock  the  next  morning. 

The  most  impressive  spedacle  during  several 
night  rides  through  miles  of  Tokio  streets  was  the 
number  of  young  lads  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of 
age  who  had  fallen  asleep  at  their  tasks.  With  head 
pillowed  on  arm  they  slumbered  on  the  hard  benches, 
where  they  had  been  working  since  early  morning, 
while  the  older  men  labored  alongside  at  their  tasks. 

From  the  train  one  saw  the  rice  farmer  and  his 
wife  and  children  working  in  the  paddy  fields  as  long 
as  they  could  see.  These  people  do  not  work  with 
the  fierce  energy  of  the  American  mechanic,  but 
their  workday  is  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  and, 
considering  these  long  hours,  they  show  great  indus- 
try and  conscientiousness. 

[7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

In  some  places  women  were  employed  at  the 
hardest  work,  such  as  coaling  ships  by  hand  and 
digging  and  carrying  earth  from  canals  and  ditches. 

Scarcely  less  impressive  than  the  tireless  industry 
of  the  people  is  the  enormous  number  of  children 
that  may  be  seen  both  in  city  and  country.  It  was 
impossible  to  get  statistics  of  births,  but  any  Amer- 
ican traveling  through  Japan  must  be  struck  with 
the  fadt  that  this  is  a  land  not  threatened  by  race 
suicide. 

Women  who  looked  far  beyond  the  time  of 
motherhood  were  suckling  infants,  while  all  the 
young  women  seemed  well  provided  with  children. 
Girls  of  five  or  six  were  playing  games  with  sleeping 
infants  strapped  to  their  backs,  and  even  boys  were 
impressed  into  this  nursery  work.  The  younger 
children  are  clothed  only  in  kimonos,  so  that  the 
passer-by  witnesses  many  strange  sights  of  naked 
Japanese  cherubs. 

In  all  quarters  of  Tokio  the  children  were  as 
numerous  as  in  tenement  streets  of  American  cities 
on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  and  in  small  country  towns 
the  number  of  children  seemed  even  greater  than  in 
the  big  cities. 

Another  feature  of  Japanese  life  that  made  a  pro- 
found impression  on  me  was  the  pilgrimage  of  school 
children  to  the  various  sacred  shrines  throughout  the 
empire.  At  Nikko  and  at  Nara,  two  of  the  great 
seats  of  Buddhist  and  Shinto  shrines,  these  child  pil- 
grims were  conspicuous.  They  were  seen  in  bands 
of  fifty  or  seventy-five,  attended  by  tutors.  The  boys 
were  dressed  in  blue  or  black  jackets,  white  or  blue 
trousers  and  white  leggings.  Each  carried  his  few 
belongings  in  a  small  box  or  a  handkerchief  and 
each  had  an  umbrella  to  protedl  him  from  the  fre- 
quent showers. 

[8] 


First  Impressions  of  Japan 

The  girls  had  dark  red  merino  skirts,  with  kim- 
ono waists  of  some  dark  stuff.  Many  were  without 
stockings,  but  all  wore  straw  sandals  or  those  with 
wooden  sole  and  heavy  wooden  clogs.  School  chil- 
dren are  admitted  to  temples  and  shrines  at  half 
rates  and  in  every  place  the  guides  pay  special  atten- 
tion to  these  young  visitors. 

Pilgrimages  of  soldiers  and  others  are  also  very 
common.  Whenever  a  party  of  one  hundred  is 
formed  it  receives  the  benefit  of  the  half-rate  admis- 
sion. No  observant  tourist  can  fail  to  see  that  in  the 
pilgrimages  of  these  school  children  and  these  sol- 
diers the  authorities  of  new  Japan  find  the  best  means 
of  stimulating  patriotism.  Church  and  State  are  so 
closely  welded  that  the  Mikado  is  regarded  as  a 
god.  Passionate  devotion  to  country  is  the  great 
ruling  power  which  separates  Japan  from  all  other 
modern  nations. 

The  number  of  young  men  who  leave  their  coun- 
try to  escape  the  three  years*  conscription  is  very 
small.  The  schoolboy  in  his  most  impressionable 
years  is  brought  to  these  sacred  shrines;  he  listens 
to  the  story  of  the  Forty-seven  Ronins  and  other 
tales  of  Japanese  chivalry;  his  soul  is  fired  to  imi- 
tate their  self-sacrificing  patriotism.  The  bloody 
slopes  of  Port  Arthur  witnessed  the  eflfed  of  such 
training  as  this. 


[9l 


The  Japanese 

Capital  and  Its  Parks  and 

Temples 


TOKio,  the  capital  of  Japan,  is  a  pidhiresque 
city  of  enormous  extent  and  the  toiirist  who 
sees  it  in  two  or  three  days  must  exped:  to 
do  strenuous  work.  The  city,  which  adtually  covers 
one  hundred  square  miles,  is  built  on  the  low  shore 
of  Tokio  bay  and  is  intersected  by  the  Sumi  river 
and  a  network  of  narrow  canals.  The  river  and  these 
canals  are  crossed  by  frequent  bridges.  At  night  the 
tourist  may  mark  his  approach  to  one  of  these  canals 
by  the  evil  odors  that  poison  the  air.  Even  in  Oc- 
tober the  air  is  sultry  in  Tokio  during  the  day  and 
far  into  the  night,  but  toward  morning  a  penetrating 
damp  wind  arises. 

Although  Tokio's  main  streets  have  been  wid- 
ened to  imposing  avenues  that  run  through  a  series 
of  great  parks,  the  native  life  may  be  studied  on 
every  hand-for  a  block  from  the  big  streets,  with 
their  clanging  eleftric  cars,  one  comes  upon  narrow 
alleys  lined  with  shops  and  teeming  with  life.  Here, 
for  the  first  time,  the  tourist  sees  Japanese  city  life, 
only  slightly  influenced  by  foreign  customs.  The 
streets  are  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  wide, 
curbed  on  each  side  by  flat  blocks  of  granite,  seldom 
more  than  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  wide.  These 
furnish  the  only  substitute  for  a  sidewalk  in  rainy 
weather,  as  most  of  the  streets  are  macadamized.  A 
slight  rainfall  wets  the  surface  and  makes  walking 


[lo] 


The  Japanese  Capital 

for  the  foreigner  very  disagreeable.  The  Japanese 
use  in  rainy  weather  the  wooden  sandal  with  two 
transverse  clogs  about  two  inches  high,  which  lifts 
him  out  of  the  mud.  All  Japanese  dignitaries  and 
nearly  all  foreigners  use  the  jinrikisha,  which  has  the 
right  of  way  in  the  narrow  streets.  The  most  com- 
mon sound  in  the  streets  is  the  bell  of  the  rickshaw 
man  or  his  warning  shout  of  **Hi!  Hi!" 

My  first  day's  excursion  included  a  ride  through 
Shiba  and  Hibiya  parks  to  Uyeno  Park,  the  resting 
place  of  many  of  the  shoguns.  This  makes  a  trip 
which  will  consume  the  entire  day.  Shiba  Park  is 
noteworthy  for  its  temples  (which  contain  some  of 
the  most  remarkable  specimens  of  Japanese  art)  and 
for  the  tombs  of  seven  of  the  fifteen  shoguns  or  native 
rulers  who  preceded  the  Mikado  in  the  government 
of  Japan.  The  first  and  third  shoguns  are  buried  at 
Nikko,  while  the  fourth,  fifth,  eighth,  ninth,  elev- 
enth and  thirteenth  lie  in  Uyeno  Park,Tokio.  These 
mortuary  chapels  in  Shiba  Park  are  all  similar  in 
general  design,  the  only  diflferences  being  in  the  lav- 
ishness  of  the  decoration.  Out  of  regard  for  the  for- 
eign visitor  it  is  not  necessary  to  remove  one's  shoes 
in  entering  these  temples,  as  cloth  covers  are  pro- 
vided. Each  temple  is  divided  into  three  parts-the 
outer  oratory,  a  corridor  and  the  inner  sanftum, 
where  the  shogun  alone  was  privileged  to  worship. 
The  daimyos  or  nobles  were  lined  up  in  the  corridor, 
while  the  smaller  nobles  and  chiefs  filled  the  oratory. 
It  would  be  tedious  to  describe  these  temples,  but 
one  will  serve  as  a  specimen  of  all.  This  is  the  temple 
of  the  second  shogun,  which  is  noteworthy  for  the 
beauty  of  the  decoration  of  the  sanftum  and  the  tomb. 

Two  enormous  gilded  pillars  support  the  vaulted 
roof  of  the  sandhim,  which  is  formed  of  beams  in  a 
very  curious  pattern.  A  frieze  of  medallions  of  birds. 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

gilded  and  painted,  runs  around  the  top  of  the  wall. 
The  shrine  dates  back  for  two  and  one-half  centuries 
and  is  of  rich  gold  lacquer.  The  bronze  incense 
burner,  in  the  form  of  a  lion,  bears  the  date  of  1633*. 
The  great  war  drum  of  leyasu,  the  first  of  the  To- 
kugawa  shoguns,  lies  upon  a  richly  decorated  stand. 
Back  of  the  temple  is  the  odagonal  hall,  which 
houses  the  tomb  of  the  second  shogun.  This  tomb 
is  the  largest  example  of  gold  lacquer  in  the  world, 
and  parts  of  it  are  inlaid  with  enamel  and  crystal. 
Scenes  from  Liao-Ling,  China,  and  Lake  Biwa, 
Japan,  adorn  the  upper  half,  while  the  lower  half 
bears  elaborate  decoration  of  the  lion  and  the  peony. 
The  base  of  the  tomb  is  a  solid  block  of  stone  in 
the  shape  of  the  lotus.  The  hall  is  supported  by 
eight  pillars  covered  with  gilded  copper,  and  the 
walls  are  covered  with  gilded  lacquer.  The  enor- 
mous amount  of  money  expended  on  these  shrines 
will  amaze  any  foreign  visitor,  as  well  as  the  pro- 
found reverence  shown  by  the  Japanese  for  these 
resting  places  of  the  shoguns. 

Passing  along  a  wide  avenue  traversed  by  eledric 
cars  one  soon  reaches  Hibiya  Park,  one  of  the  show 
places  of  Tokio.  To  the  European  tourist  or  the  vis- 
itor from  our  Eastern  States  the  beauty  of  the  vegeta- 
tion is  a  source  of  marvel,  but  San  Francisco's  Golden 
Gate  Park  can  equal  everything  that  grows  here  in 
the  way  of  ornamental  shrubs,  trees  and  flowers. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  park  are  the  Parliament 
buildings,  and  near  by  the  fine,  new  brick  buildings 
of  the  Naval  and  Judicial  Departments  and  the 
courts.  Near  by  are  grouped  many  of  the  foreign 
legations,  the  palaces  of  princes  and  the  mansions  of 
of  the  Japanese  officials  and  foreign  embassadors. 
Here  also  is  the  Museum  of  Arms,  which  is  very 
interesting  because  of  the  many  specimens  of  ancient 

[12] 


The  Japanese  Capital 
Japanese  weapons  and  the  trophies  of  the  wars  with 
China  and  Russia.  In  this  museum  one  may  see 
the  profound  interest  which  the  Japanese  pilgrims 
from  all  parts  of  the  empire  take  in  these  memorials 
of  conquest.  To  them  they  rank  with  the  sacred 
shrines  as  obje(5ts  of  veneration. 

Not  far  away  is  the  moat  which  surrounds  the 
massive  walls  of  the  imperial  palace,  open  only  to 
those  who  have  the  honor  of  an  imperial  audience. 
These  walls  are  of  granite  laid  up  without  mortar, 
the  corner  stones  being  of  unusual  size.  The  visitor 
may  see  the  handsome  roofs  of  the  imperial  palaces. 
Those  who  have  been  admitted  declare  that  the  dec- 
orations and  the  furniture  are  in  the  highest  style  of 
Japanese  art,  although  the  simplicity  and  the  neutral 
colors  that  mark  the  Shinto  temples  prevail  in  the 
private  chambers  of  the  Emperor.  In  the  throne 
chamber  and  the  banquet  hall,  on  the  other  hand, 
gold  and  brilliant  hues  make  a  blaze  of  color.  Near 
the  palace  grounds  are  the  Government  printing 
office  and  a  number  of  schools. 

Turning  down  into  Yoken  street,  one  of  the 
great  avenues  of  traffic,  you  soon  reach  Uyeno  Park— 
the  most  popular  pleasure  ground  of  the  capital,  and 
famous  in  the  spring  for  its  long  lines  of  cherry  trees 
in  full  blossom.  In  the  autumn  it  impressed  me,  as 
did  all  the  other  Japanese  parks,  as  rather  damp  and 
unwholesome.  The  ground  was  saturated  from  re- 
cent rain;  all  the  stonework  was  covered  with  moss 
and  lichen;  the  trees  dripped  moisture,  and  the  little 
lakes  scattered  here  and  there  were  like  those  gloomy 
tarns  that  Poe  loved  to  paint  in  his  poems.  Near 
the  entrance  to  this  park  is  a  shallow  lake  covered 
with  lotus  plants,  and  a  short  distance  beyond  from 
a  little  hill  one  may  get  a  good  view  of  the  buildings 
of  the  imperial  university.    Here  is  a  good  foreign 

[13] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

restaurant  where  one  may  enjoy  a  palatable  lunch. 
Near  by  on  a  slight  eminence  stands  a  huge  bronze 
image  of  Buddha,  twenty-one  and  one-half  feet  high, 
called  the  Daibutsu.  It  is  one  of  several  such  figures 
scattered  over  the  empire.  Passing  through  a  mass- 
ive granite  torii,  or  gate,  one  reaches  an  avenue  of 
stately  cryptomeria,  or  cedar  trees  that  leads  to  a 
row.  of  stone  lanterns  presented  in  165 1  by  daimyos 
as  a  memorial  to  the  first  shogun.  The  temple  be- 
yond is  famous  for  its  beautiful  lacquer. 

Near  at  hand  are  the  temples  and  tombs  of  the 
six  shoguns  of  the  Tokugawa  family,  buried  in  Uy- 
eno  Park.  These  temples  are  regarded  as  among 
the  finest  remains  of  old  Japanese  art.  The  mortu- 
ary temples  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  those  in 
Shiba  Park.  The  second  temple  is  the  finer  and  is 
celebrated  for  the  gilding  of  the  interior  walls,  the 
gorgeous  decoration  of  the  shrines  and  the  memo- 
rial tablets  in  gold  lacquer.  Here,  also,  are  eight 
tablets  ereded  to  the  memory  of  eight  mothers  of 
shoguns,  all  of  whom  were  concubines. 

A  short  distance  from  Uyeno  Park  is  the  great 
Buddhist  temple  known  as  Asakusa  Kwannon,  ded~ 
icated  to  Kwannon,  the  goddess  of  mercy.  The  ap- 
proaches to  this  temple  on  any  pleasant  day  look 
like  a  country  fair.  The  crowd  is  so  dense  that  jin- 
rikishas  can  not  approach  within  one  hundred  yards. 
The  shrine  dates  back  to  the  sixth  century  and  the 
temple  is  the  most  popular  resort  of  its  kind  in 
Tokio.  On  each  side  of  the  entrance  lane  are  shops, 
where  all  kinds  of  curios,  toys,  cakes,  et  cetera,  are 
sold.  The  temple  itself  is  crowded  with  votaries  who 
offer  coins  to  the  various  idols,  while  below  (near  the 
stairs  that  give  entrance  to  the  temple)  are  various 
side  booths  that  are  patronized  by  worshipers. 
Some  of  these  gods  promise  long  life;  others  give 

['4] 


The  Yomei-mori  Gate,  leyasu  Temple,  Nikko. 

One  of  the  Most  Beautiful  Gate*  in  all  Japan.    The  Colunuu 

Are  Painted  White,  with  Capital*  of  Unicorns'  Heads. 

The  Roof  is  Supported  by  Gilt  Dragons*  Hemds 


The  Japanese  Capital 

happiness,  and  several  insure  big  families  to  women 
who  offer  money  and  say  prayers. 

One  of  the  remarkable  jinrikisha  rides  in  Japan 
is  that  from  Uyeno  to  Shimbashi  station  through 
the  heart  of  Tokio  by  night.  This  takes  about 
a  half  hour  and  it  gives  a  series  of  pidures  of  the 
great  Japanese  city  that  can  be  gained  in  no  other 
way.  Here  may  be  seen  miles  of  little  shops  lining 
alleys  not  over  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide,  in  most  of 
which  work  is  going  on  busily  as  late  as  eleven 
o'clock.  In  places  the  sleepy  proprietors  are  putting 
up  their  shutters,  preparatory  to  going  to  bed,  but 
in  others  the  work  of  artisan  or  baker  or  weaver  goes 
on  as  though  the  day  had  only  fairly  begun.  Most 
of  these  shops  are  lighted  by  eledricity,  but  this 
light  is  the  only  modern  thing  about  them.  The 
weaver  sits  at  the  loom  precisely  as  he  sat  two 
thousand  years  ago,  and  the  baker  kneads  his  dough 
and  bakes  his  cakes  precisely  as  he  did  before  the 
days  of  the  first  shogun.  This  ride  gives  a  pano- 
rama of  oriental  life  which  can  be  equaled  in  few  cit- 
ies in  the  world.  Occasionally  the  jinrikisha  dashes 
up  a  little  bank  and  across  a  bridge  that  spans  a 
canal  and  one  catches  a  glimpse  of  long  lines  of 
house  boats,  with  dim  lights,  nestling  under  over- 
hanging balconies.  Over  all  is  that  penetrating  odor 
of  the  Far  East,  mingled  with  the  smell  of  bilge 
water  and  the  reek  of  thousands  of  sweating  human 
beings.  These  smells  are  of  the  earth  earthy  and 
they  led  one  to  dream  that  night  of  weird  and  ter- 
rible creatures  such  as  De  Quincey  paints  in  his  Con- 
fessions of  an  English  Opium  Eater, 


['5] 


The  Most  Famous 

City  of  Temples  in  All 

Japan 


THE  most  magnificent  temples  in  Japan  are  at 
Nikko,  in  the  mountains,  five  hours'  ride  by 
train  from  Tokio.  What  makes  this  trip  the 
more  enjoyable  to  the  American  tourist  is  that  the 
country  reminds  him  of  the  Catskills,  and  that  he 
gets  some  glimpses  of  primitive  Japanese  life.  The 
Japanese  have  a  proverb:  "Do  not  use  the  word 
'magnificent*  until  you  have  seen  Nikko."  And  any- 
one who  goes  through  the  three  splendid  temples 
that  serve  as  memorials  of  the  early  shoguns  will 
agree  that  the  proverb  is  true. 

The  railroad  ride  to  Nikko  is  tedious,  although 
it  furnishes  greater  variety  than  most  of  the  other 
trips  by  rail  through  the  Mikado's  empire.  But  as 
soon  as  one  is  landed  at  the  little  station  he  recognizes 
that  here  is  a  place  unlike  any  that  he  has  seen.  The 
road  runs  up  a  steep  hill  to  the  Kanaya  Hotel, which 
is  perched  on  a  high  bank  overlooking  the  Daiya- 
gawa  river.  Tall  cedar  trees  clothe  the  banks,  and 
across  the  river  rise  mountains,  with  the  roofs  of 
temples  showing  through  the  foliage  at  their  base. 
This  hotel  is  gratefully  remembered  by  all  tourists 
because  of  the  artistic  decoration  of  the  rooms  in 
Japanese  style  and  the  beneficent  care  of  the  pro- 
prietor, which  includes  a  pretty  kimono  to  wear  to 
the  morning  bath,  with  straw  sandals  for  the  feet, 
and  charming  waitresses  in  piduresque  costumes. 

['6] 


Most  Famous  City  of  Temples 
The  first  Buddhist  temple  at  Nikko  dates  back 
to  the  eighth  century,  but  it  was  not  until  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  the  place  was  made  a  national 
shrine  by  building  here  the  mausoleum  of  the  first 
shogun,Ieyasu,and  of  his  grandson,  lemitsu.  Hardly 
less  noteworthy  than  these  shrines  and  temples  is 
the  great  avenue  of  giant  cryptomeria  trees,  which 
stretches  across  the  country  for  twenty  miles,  from 
Nikko  to  Utsunomiya. 

One  of  the  chief  objeds  of  interest  in  Nikko  is 
the  Sacred  Red  Bridge  which  spans  a  swift  stream 
about  forty  feet  wide.  This  is  a  new  bridge,  as  the 
old  one  was  carried  away  by  a  great  flood  nine  years 
ago.  Originally  built  in  1 62  8,  it  served  to  commem- 
orate the  legendary  and  miraculous  bridging  of  the 
stream  by  Shodo  Shonin,  a  saint.  He  arrived  at  the 
river  one  day  while  on  a  pilgrimage  and  called  aloud 
for  aid  to  cross.  On  the  opposite  bank  appeared  a 
being  of  gigantic  size,  who  promised  to  help  him, 
and  at  once  flung  across  the  stream  two  green  and 
blue  dragons  which  formed  a  bridge.  When  the  saint 
was  safely  over  the  bridge,  it  vanished  with  the  mys- 
terious being.  Shodo  at  once  built  a  hut  on  the 
banks  of  the  stream.  For  fourteen  years  he  dwelt 
there  and  gathered  many  disciples.  Then  he  estab- 
lished a  monastery  and  a  shrine  at  Lake  Chuzinji, 
about  nine  miles  from  Nikko.  Nine  hundred  years 
later  the  second  shogun  of  the  Tokugawa  dynasty 
sent  two  officials  to  Nikko  to  seled  a  site  for  the 
mausoleum  of  his  father.  They  chose  a  site  near 
Nikko,  on  a  hill  called  Hotoke-iwa,  and  in  the  spring 
of  161 7  the  tomb  was  completed  and  the  coffin  was 
deposited  under  it  with  appropriate  Buddhist  cere- 
monies. 

The  road  to  the  mausoleum  winds  around  the 
river.  The  first  objedl  on  the  way  is  a  pillar  ereded 

[17] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

in  1643  to  ward  off  evil  influences.  It  is  a  cylin- 
drical copper  column  forty-two  feet  high,  supported 
by  short  horizontal  bars  of  the  same  material,  resting 
on  four  short  columns.  Small  bells  hung  from  lotus- 
shaped  cups  crown  the  summit  of  the  column.  Just 
beyond  this  column  is  a  massive  granite  torii,  twenty- 
seven  and  one-half  feet  high,  the  gift  of  the  Daimiyo 
of  Chikuzen.  To  the  left  is  a  five-story  pagoda,  one 
hundred  and  four  feet  in  height,  which  is  especially 
graceful.  Inside  a  red  wooden  wall  are  arranged  a 
series  of  lacquered  storehouses,  a  holy  water  cistern 
cut  out  of  a  solid  block  of  granite,  a  finely  decorated 
building  in  which  rest  a  colledion  of  Buddhist  writ- 
ings, A  second  court  is  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs. 
Here  are  gifts  presented  by  the  kings  of  Luchu,  Hol- 
land and  Korea,  these  three  countries  being  regarded 
as  vassal  states  of  Japan.  On  the  left  is  the  Temple 
of  Yahushi, beautifully  decorated  in  red  and  gold  lac- 
quer, and  just  beyond  is  a  fine  gate,  called  Yomei-mon, 
decorated  with  medallions  of  birds.  Passing  through 
this  gate,  one  reaches  a  court  bordered  by  several 
small  buildings,  one  of  which  contains  the  palan- 
quins that  are  carried  in  the  annual  procession  on 
June  1st,  when  the  deified  spirits  of  the  first  shogun, 
Hideyoshi  (the  great  conqueror),  and  Yoritomo  oc- 
cupy them.  Seventy-five  men  carry  each  of  these 
palanquins. 

The  main  shrines  are  reached  through  the  Chi- 
nese gate.  The  three  chambers  are  magnificent  spe- 
cimens of  the  finest  work  in  lacquer,  gold  and  metal. 
The  tomb  of  leyasu,  the  first  shogun,  is  reached  by 
ascending  two  hundred  stone  steps.  The  tomb  is  in 
the  form  of  a  small  pagoda  of  bronze  of  an  unusually 
light  color  caused  by  the  mixture  of  gold.  The  body 
of  the  shogun  is  buried  twenty  feet  deep  in  a  bed  of 
charcoal.   Beyond  is  the  mausoleum  of  lemitsu,  the 

[18] 


Most  Famous  City  of  Temples 

third  shogun.  The  oratory  and  chapel  are  richly 
decorated,  but  they  do  not  compare  with  those  of 
the  first  shogun's  tomb.  Back  of  these  tombs,  among 
the  huge  cedar  trees  that  clothe  the  sides  of  the 
mountain,  is  a  small  red  shrine  where  women  offer 
little  pieces  of  wood  that  they  may  pass  safely  through 
the  dangers  of  childbirth.  Near  by  is  the  tomb  of 
Shodo,  the  saint,  and  three  of  his  disciples. 

These  mortuary  temples  and  tombs  are  genu- 
inely impressive.  They  bear  many  signs  of  age  and 
it  is  evident  that  they  are  held  in  great  veneration 
by  the  Japanese,  who  make  pilgrimages  at  all  seasons 
to  offer  up  prayers  at  these  sacred  shrines.  More 
impressive  than  the  tombs  themselves  are  the  pil- 
grims. On  the  day  that  I  visited  this  sacred  shrine 
several  large  bands  of  pilgrims  were  entertained.  One 
party  was  composed  of  over  a  hundred  boys  from 
one  of  the  big  government  military  schools.  These 
lads  were  in  uniform  and  each  carried  an  umbrella 
and  a  lunch  tied  up  in  a  handkerchief.  The  priests 
paid  special  attention  to  these  young  pilgrims  and 
described  for  their  benefit  the  marvels  of  carving  and 
lacquer  work.  Services  were  held  before  the  shrines 
and  the  glorious  conquest  of  the  shoguns  and  of 
Hideyoshi  (popularly  known  as  the  Napoleon  of 
Japan)  were  described  in  glowing  words.  The  Rus- 
sian cannon  captured  at  Port  Arthur,  which  stands 
near  the  entrance  to  the  tombs,  was  not  forgotten 
by  these  priests,  who  never  fail  to  do  their  part  in 
stimulating  the  patriotism  of  the  young  pilgrims. 

These  boys  were  followed  by  an  equal  number 
of  public  school  girls,  all  dressed  in  dark  red  merino 
skirts  and  kimonos  of  various  colors.  Some  were 
without  stockings  and  none  wore  any  head  covering, 
although  each  girl  carried  her  lunch  and  the  inevi- 
table umbrella. 

['9] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

After  these  children  came  several  parties  of  ma- 
ture pilgrims,  some  finely  dressed  and  bearing  every 
evidence  of  wealth  and  position,  while  others  were 
clothed  in  poor  garments  and  showed  great  defer- 
ence to  the  priests  and  guides.  All  revealed  genu- 
ine veneration  for  the  sacred  relics  and  all  contributed 
according  to  their  means  to  the  various  shrines. 
Some  idea  of  the  revenue  drawn  by  the  priests  from 
tourists  and  pilgrims  may  be  gained  when  it  is  said 
that  admission  is  seventy  sen  (or  thirty-five  cents  in 
American  money)  for  each  person,  with  half-rates  to 
priests,  teachers  and  school  children,  and  to  mem- 
bers of  parties  numbering  one  hundred. 

The  shops  at  Nikko  will  be  found  well  worth  a 
visit,  as  this  city  is  the  market  for  many  kinds  of 
furs  that  are  scarce  in  America.  Many  fine  speci- 
mens of  wood  carving  may  also  be  seen  in  the  shops. 
The  main  street  of  the  town  runs  from  the  Kanaya 
Hotel  to  the  railroad  depot,  a  distance  of  a  mile  and 
one-half,  and  it  is  lined  for  nearly  the  whole  distance 
with  small  shops. 

On  his  return  to  the  railroad  the  tourist  would 
do  well  to  take  a  jinrikisha  ride  of  five  miles  down 
through  the  great  avenue  of  old  cryptomeria  trees 
to  the  little  station  of  Imaichi.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  rides  in  the  world.  The  road  is  bor- 
dered on  each  side  by  huge  cedar  trees  which  are 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  in 
height.  In  many  cases  the  roots  of  these  old  trees 
have  formed  a  natural  embankment  and  the  road  is 
thus  forced  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding  rice 
fields.  These  trees  were  planted  nearly  three  hun- 
dred years  ago  and  they  are  certainly  in  a  remark- 
able state  of  preservation.  A  few  gaps  there  are,  due 
to  the  vandalism  of  the  country  people,  but  mile 
after  mile  is  passed  with  only  an  occasional  break  in 

[20] 


Most  Famous  City  of  Temples 
these  stately  columns,  crowned  by  the  deep  green 
masses  of  foliage.  Another  cryptomeria  avenue  in- 
tersedls  this  and  runs  for  twenty-five  miles  across  the 
country.  The  two  avenues  were  planted  in  order  that 
they  might  be  used  by  the  shogun's  messengers  when 
they  bore  important  letters  to  him  during  his  sum- 
mer residence  in  Nara. 


[21] 


In  Kyoto, 

The  Ancient  Capital 
OF  Japan 

NEXT  to  Nikko,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
cities  in  Japan  is  Kyoto,  the  old  capital  under 
the  shoguns,  the  seat  of  several  fine  palaces 
and  many  beautiful  temples,  and  the  center  of  large 
manufacturing  works  of  satsuma  and  cloissone  ware, 
damascene  work  and  art  work  on  silk  and  velvet. 
Kyoto  may  be  reached  by  a  short  ride  from  Kobe, but 
fromTokio  it  is  an  all-day  trip  of  twelve  hours  by  ex- 
press train.  This  ride,which  would  be  comfortable  in 
well  appointed  cars,  is  made  tedious  by  the  Japanese 
preference  for  cars  with  seats  arranged  along  the  side, 
like  the  new  American  pay-as-you-enter  street  cars. 
For  a  short  ride  the  side  seat  may  be  endured,  but 
for  hours  of  travel  (especially  when  one  is  a  tourist 
and  wishes  to  see  the  scenery  on  both  sides  of  the 
road)  the  cars  are  extremely  tiresome. 

By  selecting  the  express  train  and  buying  first- 
class  tickets  it  was  hoped  to  avoid  any  crowd  but,unfor- 
tunately,  the  day  chosen  saw  many  other  tourists  on 
their  way  across  Japan.  The  result  was  that  the  first- 
class  car  was  packed  and  many  who  had  paid  first-class 
fares  were  forced  to  ride  in  the  second-class  cars.  In 
my  car  one  side  was  occupied  almost  wholly  by  Jap- 
anese. Two  were  in  American  dress,  one  was  an 
army  officer  in  uniform,  another  a  clerk  with  many 
packages,  and  the  remaining  two  were  an  old  couple, 
richly  dressed.  The  Japanese,  in  traveling  first-class, 

[22] 


Kyoto,  Ancient  Capital  of  Japan 

generally  brings  a  rug  or  fur,  which  he  spreads  over 
the  seat.  On  this  he  sits  with  his  feet  drawn  up  under 
him  in  the  national  style.  Smoking  is  not  prohib- 
ited even  in  the  first-class  cars,  so  that  the  American 
ladies  in  the  cars  had  to  endure  the  smell  of  various 
kinds  of  Japanese  tobacco,  in  addition  to  the  heat, 
which  was  rendered  more  disagreeable  by  the  fre- 
quent closing  of  the  windows  as  the  train  dashed 
through  many  tunnels.  The  old  couple  carried  lunch 
in  several  hampers  and  they  indulged  in  a  very  elab- 
orate luncheon,  helped  out  by  tea  purchased  in  little 
pots  from  a  dealer  at  a  station.  The  army  officer 
bought  one  of  the  small  wooden  lunch  boxes  sold 
along  all  Japanese  railways,  which  contain  boiled 
rice,  fried  fish  and  some  boiled  sweet  potatoes.  This, 
with  a  pot  of  tea,  made  a  good  lunch.  The  Japanese 
in  European  costume  patronized  the  dining-car, 
where  an  excellent  lunch  was  served  for  one  yen,  or 
fifty  cents  in  American  money. 

The  scenery  along  the  line  of  the  railway  varied. 
The  road  skirts  the  coast  for  many  miles,  then  cuts 
across  several  mountain  ranges  to  Nagoya,then  along 
the  shores  of  Owari  bay  (an  arm  of  the  ocean),  thence 
across  the  country  to  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Biwa, 
near  which  Kyoto  is  situated.  In  the  old  days  this 
journey  consumed  twelve  days,  and  the  road  twice 
every  year  furnished  a  pidluresque  procession  of  the 
retinues  of  great  nobles  or  daimiyos  traveling  from 
Kyoto  to  Tokio  to  present  their  respedls  to  the 
shogun.  The  road  was  skirted  by  great  cryptomeria, 
and  avenues  of  these  fine  trees  may  still  be  seen 
near  Nikko. 

Kyoto  was  a  great  city  in  medieval  days,  when  it 
was  the  residence  of  the  Mikado.  From  793  until 
1868,  when  the  court  removed  to  Tokio,  Kyoto  re- 
mained the  capital.    Its  importance,  however,  began 

[23] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

to  decline  with  the  founding  of  Yedo,  or  Tokio,  in 
1590,  and  to-day  many  miJes  of  its  former  streets 
are  devoted  to  the  growing  of  rice.  In  this  way  sev- 
eral of  the  finest  temples,  which  were  once  in  the 
heart  of  the  old  city,  are  now  relegated  to  the  sub- 
urbs. Besides  the  Mikado's  palace  and  Nijo  castle, 
which  may  be  visited  only  by  special  permit,  Kyoto 
boasts  of  an  unusual  number  of  richly  decorated 
temples,  among  which  the  most  noteworthy  are  the 
Shinto  temple  of  Inari;the  temple  of  the  one  thou- 
sand images  of  Kwannon,  the  Deity  of  Mercy;  the 
great  Buddhist  temple  of  Nishi-Honguanji,  cele- 
brated for  its  art  work  in  paintings  and  decorated 
woods;  the  great  bronze  Buddha,  fifty-eight  feet 
high;  the  big  bell  near  by,  nearly  fourteen  feet  high, 
and  the  other  in  the  Cheon-in  temple  here— these 
being  two  of  the  four  largest  bells  in  all  Japan. 
To  describe  the  treasures  in  art  and  decoration,  in 
gold  and  lacquer,  in  these  palaces,  would  be  tire- 
some. Unless  one  is  a  student  of  Japanese  art  the 
visiting  of  temples  soon  becomes  a  great  bore,  for 
one  temple  or  one  palace  is  a  repetition  of  others 
already  seen,  with  merely  minor  differences  in  archi- 
tecture and  decoration,  which  appeal  only  to  the 
specialist. 

Kyoto,  however,  is  of  great  interest  for  its  many 
art  shops— since  applied  art,  as  seen  in  satsuma  and 
cloissone  ware  and  in  damascene,  have  almost  reached 
the  level  of  pure  art.  A  visit  to  one  of  the  satsuma 
fadtories  is  an  interesting  experience,  as  it  shows  how 
little  the  art  of  Japan  has  been  influenced  by  the 
foreigner.  Here  one  sees  the  potter  at  his  wheel, 
precisely  as  in  the  days  of  the  Bible.  He  does  not 
avail  himself  of  eledric  power  but  whirls  his  wheel 
by  hand  and  foot,  exadly  as  in  the  time  of  Christ. 
Passing  from  the  pottery  to  the  art  rooms,  one  finds 

[24] 


Kyoto,  Ancient  Capital  of  Japan 
a  number  of  Japanese  men  and  girls  painting  elab- 
orate designs  on  bowls  and  vases  and  other  articles. 
These  artists  grind  and  mix  their  own  oil  colors, 
which  they  proceed  to  lay  on  slowly  upon  the  article 
they  are  decorating.  The  patience  of  these  artists  is 
indescribable.  Infinite  pains  is  taken  with  a  single 
flower  or  tree  or  figure  of  man  or  bird.  One  vase 
exhibited  here  is  covered  with  butterflies  which  range 
from  natural  size  down  to  figures  so  small  that  they 
can  be  discerned  only  under  a  magnifying  glass. 
Yet,  this  vase,  which  represents  such  an  enormous 
outlay  of  labor  and  time,  is  sold  at  thirty  dollars  in 
American  money. 

At  the  damascene  works  both  men  and  women 
are  also  employed,  although  the  finest  work  is  done 
by  the  men.  The  art  consists  in  beating  into  bronze 
small  particles  of  gold  leaf  until  they  have  become 
an  a<5hial  part  of  the  baser  metal.  This  gold  is  ar- 
ranged in  a  great  variety  of  design  and,  after  being 
beaten  in,  the  article  is  subjefted  to  powerful  heat, 
which  oxidizes  the  metal  and  thus  prevents  any 
change  due  to  the  weather.  At  this  Kyoto  fadory 
were  turned  out  the  most  artistic  jewelry,  boxes, 
cigarette  cases  and  a  great  variety  of  small  articles, 
many  of  which  sold  at  absurdly  low  prices,  consider- 
ing the  amount  of  labor  and  time  expended  on  them. 

Kyoto  will  be  found  one  of  the  best  cities  in 
Japan  for  the  purchase  of  the  art  work  just  described, 
as  well  as  embroidery,  silks  and  other  stuffs.  In 
many  of  these  shops  the  work  is  done  on  the  prem- 
ises and  hence  the  prices  are  cheaper  than  in  any 
other  city  except  Yokohama.  It  is  worth  while  to 
visit  the  shops  that  exhibit  bronze  work,  silks,  vel- 
vets and  carvings  in  ivory  and  wood,  as  well  as  curios 
of  many  kinds.  Most  of  these  shopkeepers  demand 
more  than  they  exped  to  receive,  but  in  a  few  shops 

[2S] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

the  goods  are  plainly  marked  and  no  redudion  in 
price  can  be  secured.  At  Kyoto  the  tourist  will  find 
many  traces  of  primitive  Japanese  life,  especially  in 
the  unfrequented  streets  and  in  the  suburbs.  Here 
in  the  bed  of  the  river,  a  portion  of  which  was  being 
walled  up  for  a  canal,  were  employed  a  dozen  women 
digging  up  gravel  and  carrying  it  in  baskets  to  carts 
near  by.  They  had  their  skirts  tied  up  and  they 
were  working  in  mud  and  water  which  reached  to 
their  knees.  It  was  not  a  pleasant  spedacle,  but  it 
excited  no  comment  in  this  country,  where  women 
labor  in  the  rice  fields  by  the  side  of  men. 

A  short  ride  from  Kyoto  brings  the  visitor  to 
Nara,  the  seat  of  the  oldest  temples  in  Japan,  and 
famous  for  the  tame  deer  in  the  park.  A  long  ave- 
nue of  stone  lanterns  leads  to  the  principal  temples, 
in  an  ancient  cedar  grove.  The  main  temple  gives  an 
impression  of  great  age  by  its  heavy  thatched  roof. 

Next  looms  up  the  gigantic  wooden  strufture, 
which  houses  Daibutsa,  the  great  bronze  image  of 
Buddha.  This  statue,  which  dates  back  to  the  eighth 
century,  is  fifty-three  and  one-quarter  feet  high;  the 
face  is  sixteen  feet  long  and  nine  and  one-quarter 
feet  wide.  The  god  is  in  a  sitting  position,  with  the 
legs  crossed.  The  head,  which  is  darker  than  the 
remainder  of  the  image,  replaced  in  the  sixteenth 
century  the  original  head  destroyed  by  fire.  The 
expression  of  this  Buddha  is  not  benignant,  and  the 
image  is  impressive  only  because  of  its  size.  It  has 
two  images  eighteen  feet  in  height  on  either  hand, 
but  these  seemed  dwarfed  by  the  huge  central  figure. 

The  park  at  Nara  is  very  interesting,  because  of 
the  tame  deer  which  have  no  fear  of  the  stranger  in 
European  dress,  but  will  eat  cakes  from  his  hand. 
One  of  the  sources  of  revenue  is  to  sell  these  cakes 
to  the  tourist. 

[26] 


Kyoto,  Ancient  Capital  of  Japan 

A  visit  was  paid  to  an  old  temple  at  Horyuji, 
about  eight  miles  from  Nara,  which  is  famous  as  the 
oldest  Buddhist  temple  in  Japan.  It  contains  a  val- 
uable colledion  of  ancient  Japanese  "vorks  of  art. 
The  rickshaw  ride  to  this  place  is  of  great  interest, 
as  the  road  passes  through  a  rich  farming  country 
and  two  small  towns  which  seem  to  have  been  little 
affedled  by  European  influence.  In  the  fertile  val- 
ley below  Nara  rice  is  grown  on  an  extensive  scale, 
these  paddy  fields  being  veritable  swamps  which  can 
be  crossed  only  by  high  paths  running  through  them, 
at  distances  of  thirty  or  forty  feet.  Here  also  may 
be  seen  the  curious  method  of  trellising  orchards  of 
pear  trees  with  bamboo  poles.  The  trellis  supports 
the  upper  branches  and  this  prevents  them  from 
breaking  down  under  the  weight  of  fruit,  while  it 
also  makes  easy  the  picking  of  fruit.  Agriculture  at 
its  best  is  seen  in  this  fertile  Japanese  valley.  One 
peculiarity  of  this  country,  as  of  other  parts  of  rural 
Japan,  is  that  one  sees  none  of  the  scattered  farm- 
houses which  dot  every  American  farming  sedion. 
Instead  of  building  on  his  own  land  the  farmer  lives 
in  a  village  to  which  he  returns  at  night  after  his 
day's  work. 


[27] 


Kobe,  Osaka, 

The  Inland  Sea  and 

Nagasaki 


KOBE  is  regarded  as  a  base  for  the  tourist  who 
wishes  to  make  short  excursions  to  Kyoto, 
Osaka  and  other  cities.  It  was  established  as 
a  foreign  settlement  in  1868,  and  has  grown  so  re- 
markably during  the  last  ten  years  that  now  it  exceeds 
in  imports  and  exports  any  other  city  in  Japan.  Kobe 
is  one  of  the  most  attrad:ive  cities  in  the  empire,  be- 
ing built  on  a  pretty  harbor,  with  the  land  rising  like 
an  amphitheater.  Scores  of  handsome  residences  are 
scattered  over  the  foothills  near  the  sea.  Those  on 
the  lower  side  of  the  streets  that  run  parallel  to  the 
harbor  have  gardens  walled  up  on  the  rear,  while  the 
houses  on  the  upper  side  of  the  streets  have  massive 
retaining  walls.  These  give  opportunity  for  many 
ornamental  gateways. 

Kobe  has  many  large  government  schools,  but 
the  institutions  which  I  found  of  greatest  interest 
were  Kobe  College  for  Women,  conduced  by  Miss 
Searle,  and  the  Glory  Kindergarten,  under  the  man- 
agement of  Miss  Howe.  Kobe  College,  which  was 
founded  over  thirty  years  ago,  is  maintained  by  the 
Women's  Board  of  Missions  of  Chicago.  It  has  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pupils,  of  whom  all  except 
about  fifty  are  lodged  and  boarded  on  the  premises. 
I  heard  several  of  the  classes  reciting  in  English.  The 
primary  class  in  English  read  simple  sentences  from 
a  blackboard  and  answered  questions  put  by  the 


[28] 


Kobe,  Osaka,  Inland  Sea,  Nagasaki 

teacher.  A  fewspoke  good  English, but  the  great  ma- 
jority failed  to  open  their  mouths,  and  the  result  was 
the  indistin(5t  enunciation  that  is  so  tryir.g  to  under- 
stand. Another  class  was  reading  Hamlet,  but  the 
pupils  made  sad  work  of  Shakespeare's  verse.  The 
Japanese  reading  of  English  is  always  monotonous, 
because  their  own  language  admits  of  no  emphasis; 
so  their  use  of  English  is  no  more  strange  than  our 
attempts  at  Japanese,  in  which  we  employ  emphasis 
that  excites  the  ridicule  of  the  Mikado's  subjeds. 

Not  far  from  this  college  is  the  kintergarten, 
which  Miss  Howe  has  carried  on  for  twenty-four 
years.  She  takes  little  tots  of  three  or  four  years  of 
age  and  trains  them  in  Froebel's  methods.  So  suc- 
cessful has  she  been  in  her  work  among  these  chil- 
dren of  the  best  Japanese  families  of  Kobe  that  she 
has  a  large  waiting  list.  She  has  also  trained  many 
Japanese  girls  in  kintergarten  work.  All  the  chil- 
dren at  this  school  looked  unusually  bright,  as  they 
are  drawn  from  the  educated  classes.  It  sounded 
very  strange  to  hear  American  and  English  lullabies 
being  chanted  by  these  tots  in  the  unfamiliar  Japa- 
nese words. 

Osaka,  the  chief  manufaduring  city  of  Japan,  is 
only  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour's  ride  from 
Kobe.  It  spreads  over  nine  miles  square  and  lies  on 
both  sides  of  the  Yodogawa  river.  The  most  in- 
teresting thing  in  Osaka  is  the  castle  built  by  Hide- 
yoshi,  the  Napoleon  of  Japan,  in  1583.  The  strong 
wall  was  once  surrounded  by  a  deep  moat  and  an 
outer  wall,  which  made  it  pradically  impregnable. 
What  will  surprise  anyone  is  the  massive  charader 
of  the  inner  walls  which  remain.  Here  are  blocks 
of  solid  granite,  many  of  them  measuring  forty 
feet  in  length  by  ten  feet  in  height.  It  must  have 
required  a  small  army  of  men  to  place  these  stones 

[29] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

in  position,  but  so  well  was  this  work  done  (without 
the  aid  of  any  mortar)  that  the  stones  have  remained 
in  place  during  all  these  years.  From  the  summit 
of  the  upper  wall  a  superb  view  may  be  gained  of 
the  surrounding  country. 

From  Kobe  the  tourist  makes  the  trip  through 
the  Inland  Sea  by  steamer.  Its  length  is  about  two 
hundred  and  forty  miles  and  its  greatest  width  is 
forty  miles.  The  trip  through  this  sea,  which  in  some 
places  narrows  to  a  few  hundred  feet,  is  deeply  in- 
teresting. The  hills  remind  a  Californian  strongly 
of  the  Marin  hills  opposite  San  Francisco,  but  here 
they  are  terraced  nearly  to  their  summits  and  are 
green  with  rice  and  other  crops.  Many  of  the  hills 
are  covered  with  a  growth  of  small  cedar  trees,  and 
these  trees  lend  rare  beauty  to  the  various  points  of 
land  that  projedt  into  the  sea.  At  two  places  in  the 
sea  the  steamer  seems  as  though  she  would  surely 
go  on  the  rocks  in  the  narrow  channel,  but  the  pilot 
swings  her  almost  within  her  own  length  and  she 
turns  again  into  a  wider  arm  of  the  sea.  In  these 
narrow  channels  the  tide  runs  like  a  mill  race,  and 
without  a  pilot  (who  knows  every  current)  any  ves- 
sel would  be  in  extreme  danger.  The  steamer  leaves 
Kobe  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  and  reaches  Naga- 
saki, the  most  western  of  Japanese  cities,  about  seven 
o'clock  the  following  morning. 

Nagasaki  in  some  ways  reminds  one  of  Kobe, 
but  the  hills  are  steeper  and  the  most  striking  fea- 
ture of  the  town  is  the  massive  stone  walls  that  sup- 
port the  streets  winding  around  the  hills,  and  the 
elaborate  paving  of  many  of  these  side-hill  streets 
with  great  blocks  of  granite.  The  rainfall  is  heavy 
at  Nagasaki,  so  we  find  here  a  good  system  of  gut- 
ters to  carry  off  the  water.  The  harbor  is  pretty  and 
on  the  opposite  shore  are  large  engine  works,  three 

[30] 


The  Daibutsu  or  Great  Bronze  Buddha 

at  Hyogo,  Near  Kobe.    ThU  Impresiive  Figure  is  Forty-eight 

Feet  High  and  Eighty-five  Feet  Round  the  Waiit.    It  is 

Not  to  Fine  as  the  Daibutsu  at  Kamakura  But 

Surpasses  That  at  Kara 


Kobe,  Osaka,  Inland  Sea,  Nagasaki 
large  docks  and  a  big  ship-building  plant,  all  belong- 
ing to  the  Mitsu  Bishi  Company.    Here  some  five 
thousand  workmen  are  constantly  employed. 

One  of  the  great  industries  of  Nagasaki  is  the 
coaling  of  Japanese  and  foreign  steamships.  Avery 
fair  kind  of  steam  coal  is  sold  here  at  three  dollars  a 
ton,  which  is  less  by  one  dollar  and  one-half  than  a 
poorer  grade  of  coal  can  be  bought  for  in  Seattle; 
hence  the  steamer  Minnesota  coaled  here.  The  coal- 
ing of  this  huge  ship  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  sights  of  her  voyage.  Early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  her  arrival  lighters  containing  about  a  railway 
carload  of  coal  began  to  arrive.  These  were  arranged 
in  regular  rows  on  both  sides  of  the  ship.  Then 
came  out  in  big  sampans  an  army  of  Japanese  num- 
bering two  thousand  in  all.  The  leaders  arranged 
ladders  against  the  sides  of  the  ship,  and  up  these 
swarmed  this  army  of  workers,  three-quarters  of 
whom  were  young  girls  between  fourteen  and  eight- 
een years  old.  They  were  dressed  in  all  colors,  but 
most  of  them  wore  a  native  bonnet  tied  about  the 
ears.  They  formed  in  line  on  the  stairs  and  then 
the  coal  was  passed  along  from  hand  to  hand  until 
it  reached  the  bunkers.  These  baskets  held  a  little 
over  a  peck  of  coal,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  they 
moved  along  this  living  line  was  startling. 

Every  few  minutes  the  line  was  given  a  breath- 
ing space,  but  the  work  went  on  with  a  deadly  regu- 
larity that  made  the  observer  tired  to  watch  it. 
Occasionally  one  of  the  young  girls  would  flag  in 
her  work  and,  after  she  dropped  a  few  basket- 
fuls,  she  would  be  relieved  and  put  at  the  lighter 
work  of  throwing  the  empty  baskets  back  into  the 
lighters.  Most  of  these  girls,  however,  remained  ten 
hours  at  this  laborious  work,  and  a  few  worked 
through  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 

[31] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 
nearly  midnight,  when  the  last  basket  of  coal  was 
put  on  board.  At  work  like  this  no  such  force  of 
Europeans  would  have  shown  the  same  self-control 
and  constant  courtesy  which  these  Japanese  exhibited. 
Wranglings  would  have  been  inevitable,  and  the 
strong  workers  would  have  shown  little  regard  for 
their  weaker  companions. 

Another  feature  of  this  Japanese  work  was  the 
elimination  of  any  strain  or  overexertion.  If  a  girl 
failed  to  catch  a  basket  as  it  whirled  along  the  line 
she  dropped  it  instantly.  Never  did  I  see  anyone 
reach  over  or  strain  to  do  her  work. 

The  rest  for  lunch  occupied  only  about  fifteen 
minutes,  the  begrimed  workers  sitting  down  on  the 
steps  of  the  ladders  and  eating  their  simple  food 
with  keen  relish.  At  night  when  strong  elcdtric 
lights  cast  their  glare  over  these  constantly  moving 
lines  of  figures  the  effedt  was  almost  grotesque,  re- 
minding one  of  Gustave  Dore's  terrible  pidures  of  the 
lost  souls  in  torment,  or  of  the  scramble  to  escape 
when  the  deluge  came.  The  skill  that  comes  of  long 
practice  marked  the  movements  of  all  these  workers, 
and  it  was  rare  that  any  basket  was  dropped  by  an 
awkward  or  tired  coal-passer. 

In  seventeen  hours  four  thousand  five  hundred 
tons  of  coal  were  loaded  on  the  steamer.  About 
fifteen  hundred  people  were  working  on  the  various 
ladders,  while  another  five  hundred  were  employed 
in  trimming  the  coal  in  the  hold  and  in  managing 
the  various  boats.  The  result  was  an  exhibit  of  what 
can  be  done  by  primitive  methods  when  perfeft 
co-operation  is  secured. 

Nagasaki  itself  has  little  that  will  interest  the 
tourist  but  a  ride  or  walk  to  Mogi,  on  an  arm  of 
the  ocean,  five  miles  away,  may  be  taken  with  profit. 
The  road  passes  over  a  high  divide  and,  as  it  runs 

[32] 


Kobe,  Osaka,  Inland  Sea,  Nagasaki 
through  a  farming  country,  one  is  able  to  see  here 
(more  perfedly  than  in  any  other  part  of  Japan)  how 
carefully  every  acre  of  tillable  land  is  cultivated.  On 
both  sides  of  this  road  from  Nagasaki  to  the  fishing 
village  of  Mogi  were  fields  enclosed  by  permanent 
walls  of  stone,  such  as  would  be  built  in  America 
only  to  sustain  a  house.  In  many  cases  the  ground 
protected  by  this  wall  was  not  over  half  an  acre  in 
extent,  and  in  some  cases  the  fields  were  of  smaller 
size.  Tier  after  tier  of  these  walls  extended  up  the 
sides  of  the  steep  hills.  The  efFed  at  a  little  distance 
was  startling,  as  the  whole  landscape  seemed  artifi- 
cial. The  result  of  this  series  of  walls  was  to  make 
a  succession  of  little  mesas  or  benches  such  as  may 
be  seen  in  southern  California. 


[33] 


Development 

OF  THE  Japanese  Sense  of 

Beauty 


A  FTER  a  trip  through  Japan  the  question  that 
/\  confronts  the  observant  tourist  is:  What  has 
X  JL  preserved  the  fine  artistic  sense  of  the  Japa- 
nese people  of  all  classes,  in  the  face  of  the  material- 
ist influences  that  have  come  into  their  life  with  the 
introduction  of  Western  methods  of  thought  and  of 
business?  The  most  careless  traveler  has  it  thrust 
upon  him  that  here  is  a  people  artistic  to  the  tips  of 
their  fingers,  and  with  childlike  power  of  idealiza- 
tion, although  they  have  been  forced  to  engage  in 
the  fierce  warfare  of  modern  business  competition. 
What  is  it  that  has  kept  them  unspotted  from  the 
world  of  business?  What  secret  source  of  spiritual 
force  have  they  been  able  to  draw  upon  to  keep  fresh 
and  dewy  this  eager,  artistic  sense  that  must  be 
developed  with  so  much  labor  among  any  Western 
people? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is  found,  by  sev- 
eral shrewd  observers,  in  the  Japanese  devotion  to 
their  gardens.  Every  Japanese,  no  matter  how  small 
and  poor  his  house,  has  a  garden  to  which  he  may 
retire  and  "invite  his  soul."  These  Japanese  gardens 
are  unique  and  are  found  in  no  other  land.  China 
has  the  nearest  approach  to  them,  but  the  poor  Chi- 
nese never  dreams  of  spending  time  and  money  in 
the  development  of  a  garden,  such  as  the  Japanese 
in  similar  circumstances  regards  as  a  necessity.  And 

[34] 


Development  of  Sense  of  Beauty 
these  Japanese  gardens  are  always  made  to  conform 
to  the  house  and  its  architedlure.  The  two  never 
fail  to  fit  and  harmonize.  A  poor  man  may  have 
only  a  square  of  ground  no  larger  than  a  few  feet, 
but  he  will  so  arrange  it  as  to  give  it  an  appearance 
of  spaciousness,  while  the  more  elaborate  gardens 
are  laid  out  so  as  to  give  the  impression  of  unlimited 
extent.  The  end  of  the  garden  appears  to  melt  into 
the  horizon,  and  the  owner  has  a  background  that 
extends  for  miles  into  the  country.  By  the  artistic 
use  of  stones  and  dwarf  plants,  a  few  square  feet  of 
ground  are  made  to  give  the  effect  of  liberal  space 
and,  with  bridges,  moss-covered  stones,  ponds,  gold 
fish  and  other  features,  a  perfect  illusion  of  the  coun- 
try may  be  produced. 

Into  this  garden  the  master  of  the  house  retires 
after  the  work  of  the  day.  There  he  takes  none  of 
his  business  or  professional  cares.  He  gives  himself 
wholly  to  the  contemplation  of  Nature.  He  becomes 
for  the  time  as  a  little  child,  and  his  soul  is  pleased 
with  childish  things.  For  him  this  garden,  with  its 
pretty  outlook  on  a  larger  world,  serves  as  the 
boundary  of  the  universe.  Here  he  may  dream  of 
the  legends  of  the  Samurai,  before  Japan  fell  under 
the  evil  influence  of  the  new  God  of  Gain.  Here  he 
may  indulge  in  the  day-dreams  that  have  always  been 
a  part  of  the  national  consciousness.  Here,  in  fine, 
he  may  get  closer  to  the  real  heart  of  Nature  than 
any  Occidental  can  ever  hope  to  reach. 

It  is  this  capacity  to  get  close  to  Nature  that  the 
Japanese  possess  beyond  any  other  Oriental  people— 
and  this  capacity  is  not  limited  to  those  of  means  or 
leisure  or  education.  The  poor  man,  who  has  a  daily 
struggle  to  get  enough  rice  to  satisfy  his  moderate 
wants,  is  as  open  to  these  influences  as  the  rich  man 
who  is  not  worried  by  any  material  wants.  There  is 

[35] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

no  distindlion  of  classes  in  this  universal  worship  of 
beauty-this  passion  for  all  that  is  lovely  in  nature. 
It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  be  in  Japan  at  the 
time  of  the  cherry-blossom  festival-but  these  fetes 
merely  serve  to  bring  out  this  national  passion  for 
beauty  and  color,  which  finds  expression  not  only  in 
the  gardens  throughout  the  empire  but  in  painting, 
drawing  and  in  working  on  silks  and  other  fabrics. 
The  same  instind:ive  art  sense  is  seen  in  the  work 
of  the  cabinet-maker  and  even  in  the  designs  of  gate- 
ways and  the  doors  of  houses.  The  eye  and  the 
hand  of  the  common  worker  in  wood  and  metal  is 
as  sure  as  the  hand  of  the  great  artist.  Such  is  the 
influence  of  this  constant  study  of  beauty  in  nature 
and  art. 

When  you  watch  a  busy  Japanese  artisan  you  get 
a  good  idea  of  the  spirit  that  animates  his  work.  He 
regards  himself  as  an  artist,  and  he  shows  the  same 
sureness  of  hand  and  the  same  sense  of  form  and 
color  as  the  designer  in  colors  or  the  painter  of  por- 
traits or  landscapes.  All  the  beautiful  gateways  or 
torii,  as  they  are  called,  are  works  of  art.  They  have 
one  stereotyped  form,  but  the  artists  embellish  these 
in  many  ways  and  the  result  is  that  every  entrance 
to  a  large  estate  or  a  public  ground  is  pleasing  to 
the  eye.  As  these  gateways  are  generally  lacquered  in 
black  or  red  or  gold,  they  add  much  to  the  beauty 
and  color  of  each  scene.  The  ornamental  lattice  over 
nearly  every  door  also  adds  enormously  to  the  ef- 
fedliveness  of  even  a  simple  interior. 

Watch  a  worker  on  cloissone  enamel  and  you 
will  be  amazed  at  the  rapidity  and  the  accuracy  with 
which  he  paints  designs  on  this  beautiful  ware.  With- 
out any  pattern  he  proceeds  to  sketch  with  his  brush 
an  intricate  design  of  flowers,  birds  or  inserts,  and 
he  develops  this  with  an  unerring  touch  that  is  little 

[36] 


Development  of  Sense  of  Beauty 

short  of  marvelous,  when  one  considers  that  he  has 
never  had  any  regular  training  in  drawing  but  has 
grown  up  in  the  shop  and  has  gained  all  his  skill 
from  watching  and  imitating  the  work  of  his  master 
on  the  bench  at  his  side.  One  day  in  Kyoto  I  watched 
a  mere  boy  gradually  develop  a  beautiful  design 
of  several  hundred  butterflies  gradually  becoming 
smaller  and  smaller  until  they  vanished  at  the  top 
of  the  vase.  What  he  proposed  to  make  of  this  was 
shown  in  a  finished  design  that  was  exquisite  in  the 
gradation  of  form  and  color.  The  same  skill  of  hand 
and  eye  was  seen  in  the  shops  of  Kyoto  where  dam- 
ascene ware  is  made.  Gold  and  silver  is  hammered 
into  steel  and  other  metals,  so  that  the  intricate  de- 
signs aftually  seem  to  become  a  part  of  the  metal. 
In  carving  in  wood  the  Japanese  excel,  and  in  such 
places  as  Nikko  and  Nara  the  tourist  may  pick  up 
the  most  elaborate  carvings  at  absurdly  low  prices. 


[37] 


Conclusions 

ON  Japanese  Life  and 

Character 


IN  summing  up  one's  observations  of  Japanese 
life  and  charader,  after  a  brief  trip  across  the 
empire,  it  is  necessary  to  exercise  much  care  and 
not  to  take  the  accidental  for  the  ordinary  incidents 
of  life.  Generalizations  from  such  observations  on 
a  hurried  journey  are  especially  deadly.  To  guard 
against  such  error  I  talked  with  many  people,  and 
the  conclusions  given  here  are  drawn  from  the  rad- 
ically different  views  of  missionaries,  merchants, 
steamship  agents,  bankers  and  others.  Generous  al- 
lowance must  be  made  for  the  prejudices  of  each 
class,  but  even  then  the  forming  of  any  conclusions 
is  difficult.  This  is  due  largely  to  the  fadt  that  the 
Japanese  a  half-century  ago  were  mediaeval  in  life 
and  thought,  and  that  the  remarkable  advances  which 
they  have  made  in  material  and  intelleftual  affairs 
have  been  crowded  into  a  little  more  than  the  life  of 
two  generations. 

The  most  common  charge  made  against  the  Jap- 
anese as  a  race  is  that  their  standard  of  commercial 
morality  is  low  as  compared  with  that  of  the  Chi- 
nese. The  favorite  instance,  which  is  generally  cited 
by  those  who  do  not  like  the  Japanese,  is  that  all 
the  big  banks  in  Japan  employ  Chinese  shroffs  or 
cashiers,  who  handle  all  the  money,  as  Japanese 
cashiers  cannot  be  trusted.  This  ancient  fiftion 
should  have  died  a  natural  death,  but  it  seems  as 


[38] 


Japanese  Life  and  Character 

though  it  bears  a  charmed  life,  although  its  untruth 
has  been  repeatedly  exposed  by  the  best  authorities 
on  Japan. 

The  big  foreign  banks  in  all  the  large  Japanese 
cities  do  employ  Chinese  shroffs,  because  these  men 
are  most  expert  in  handling  foreign  money  and  be- 
cause they  usually  have  a  large  acquaintance  all  along 
the  Chinese  coast  among  the  clients  of  the  banks. 
The  large  Japanese  banks,  on  the  other  hand,  em- 
ploy Japanese  in  all  positions  of  trust  and  authority, 
as  do  all  the  smaller  banks  throughout  the  empire. 
Many  of  the  cashiers  of  these  smaller  banks  under- 
stand English,  particularly  those  that  have  dealings 
with  foreigners.  At  a  native  bank  in  Kobe,  which 
was  Cook's  correspondent  in  that  city,  I  cashed  sev- 
eral money  orders,  and  the  work  was  done  as  speed- 
ily as  it  would  have  been  done  in  any  American 
bank.  The  fittings  of  the  bank  were  very  cheap;  the 
office  force  was  small,  but  the  cashier  spoke  excellent 
English  and  he  transacted  business  accurately  and 
speedily. 

In  making  any  generalizations  on  the  lack  of 
rigid  commercial  honesty  among  Japanese  merchants 
it  may  be  well  for  me  to  quote  the  opinion  of  an 
eminent  American  educator  who  has  spent  over  forty 
years  in  Japan.  He  said,  in  discussing  this  subjed:: 
"We  must  always  consider  the  training  of  the  Jap- 
anese before  their  country  was  thrown  open  to  for- 
eign trade.  For  years  the  nation  had  been  ruled  by 
men  of  the  Samurai  or  military  class,  with  a  rigid 
code  of  honor,  but  with  a  great  contempt  for  trade 
and  tradesmen.  Naturally  business  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  lower  classes  who  did  not  share  the 
keen  sense  of  honor  so  general  among  their  rulers. 
Hence,  there  grew  up  lax  ideas  of  commercial  mor- 
ality, which  were  fostered  by  the   carelessness  in 

[39] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

money  matters  among  the  nobility  and  aristocracy. 
Much  of  the  prevalent  Japanese  inability  to  refrain 
from  overcharging,  or  delivering  an  inferior  article 
to  that  shown  to  the  customer,  dates  back  to  these 
days  of  feudal  life.  The  years  of  contad  with  the 
foreigners  have  been  too  few  to  change  the  habits  of 
centuries.  Another  thing  which  must  always  be  con- 
sidered is  the  relation  of  master  and  vassal  under 
feudal  life.  That  relation  led  to  peculiar  customs. 
Thus,  if  an  artisan  engaged  to  build  a  house  for  his 
overlord  he  would  give  a  general  estimate,  but  if  the 
cost  exceeded  the  sum  he  named,  he  expedied  his 
master  to  make  up  the  deficit.  This  custom  has  been 
carried  over  into  the  new  regime,  so  that  the  Japa- 
nese merchant  or  mechanic  of  to-day,  although  he 
may  make  a  formal  contrad,  does  not  expeft  to  be 
bound  by  it,  or  to  lose  money  should  the  price  of 
raw  material  advance,  or  should  he  find  that  any 
building  operations  have  cost  more  than  his  original 
estimate.  In  such  case  the  man  who  orders  manu- 
fa<5tured  goods  or  signs  a  contrad:  for  any  building 
operations  seems  to  recognize  that  equity  requires 
him  to  pay  more  than  was  stipulated  in  the  bond. 
When  Japanese  deal  with  Japanese  this  custom  is 
generally  observed.  It  is  only  the  foreigner  who 
expeds  the  Japanese  to  fulfill  his  contraft  to  the 
letter,  and  it  is  the  attempt  to  enforce  such  contracts 
which  gives  the  foreign  merchant  his  poor  opinion 
of  Japanese  commercial  honesty.  In  time,  when  the 
Japanese  have  learned  that  they  must  abide  by  writ- 
ten contrads,  these  complaints  will  be  heard  no 
longer.  The  present  slipshod  methods  are  due  to 
faulty  business  customs,  the  outgrowth  of  the  old 
Samurai  contempt  for  trade  in  any  form." 

In  dealing  with  small  Japanese  merchants  in  va- 
rious cities,  it  was  my  experience  that  they  are  as 

[40] 


Japanese  Life  and  Character 

honest  as  similar  dealers  in  other  countries.  Usually 
they  demanded  about  one-half  more  than  they  ex- 
peded  to  receive.  Then  they  made  reductions  and 
finally  a  basis  of  value  was  agreed  upon.  This  chaf- 
fering seems  to  be  a  part  of  their  system;  but  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  who  are  brought  most 
often  into  conta6t  with  Europeans  are  coming  to 
have  a  fixed  price  for  all  their  goods,  on  which  they 
will  give  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  redudion, 
according  to  the  amount  of  purchases.  One  manu- 
facturer in  Kyoto  who  sold  his  own  goods  would 
make  no  reduction,  except  in  the  case  of  some  sam- 
ples that  he  was  eager  to  sell.  His  goods  were  all 
plainly  marked  and  he  calmly  allowed  tourists  to 
leave  his  store  rather  than  make  any  cut  in  his  prices. 
The  pains  and  care  which  the  Japanese  dealer  will 
take  to  please  his  customer  is  something  which  might 
be  imitated  with  profit  by  foreign  dealers. 

A  question  that  is  very  frequently  put  is,"What 
has  been  the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  Japanese 
life  and  thought?"  This  is  extremely  difficult  to 
answer,  because  even  those  who  are  engaged  in 
missionary  work  are  not  always  in  accord  in  their 
views.  One  missionary  of  thirty  years*  experience 
said:  "The  most  noteworthy  feature  of  religious 
work  in  Japan  is  the  number  of  prominent  Japanese 
who  have  become  converts  to  Christianity.  The 
new  Premier,  who  is  very  familiar  with  life  in  the 
United  States,  may  be  cited  as  one  of  these  converts. 
Such  a  man  in  his  position  of  power  will  be  able  to 
do  much  to  help  the  missionaries.  The  usual  charge 
that  Japanese  embrace  Christianity  in  order  to  learn 
English  without  expense  falls  to  the  ground  before 
actual  personal  experience.  The  converts  always 
seemed  to  me  to  be  as  sincere  as  converts  in  China 
or  Corea,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  strong 

[40 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

materialist  bent  of  modern  Japanese  education  and 
thought  is  making  it  more  difficult  to  appeal  to  the 
present  generation." 

An  educator  who  has  had  much  experience  with 
Japanese  said:  "Itlooks  to  me  as  though  Japan  would 
soon  reach  a  grave  crisis  in  national  life.  Hitherto 
Buddhism  and  Shintoism  have  been  the  two  forces 
that  have  preserved  the  religious  faith  of  the  people 
and  kept  their  patriotism  at  white  heat.  Now  the 
influences  in  the  public  schools  are  all  antagonistic 
to  any  religious  belief.  The  young  men  and  women 
are  growing  up  (both  in  the  public  schools  and  the 
government  colleges)  to  have  a  contempt  for  all  the 
old  religious  beliefs.  They  cannot  accept  the  Shinto 
creed  that  the  Emperor  is  the  son  of  God  and  should 
be  worshiped  as  a  deity  by  all  loyal  Japanese.  They 
cannot  accept  the  doctrines  of  Buddha,  as  they  see 
the  New  Japan  giving  the  lie  to  these  dodrines  every 
day  in  its  home  and  international  dealings.  Nothing 
is  left  but  atheism,  and  the  experience  of  the  world 
proves  that  there  is  nothing  more  dangerous  to  a 
nation  than  the  loss  of  its  religious  faith.  The  women 
of  Japan  are  slower  to  accept  these  new  materialist 
views  than  the  men,  but  the  general  breaking  down 
of  the  old  faith  is  something  which  no  foreign  resi- 
dent of  Japan  can  fail  to  see.  On  the  other  side 
patriotism  is  kept  alive  by  the  pilgrimages  of  school 
children  to  the  national  shrines,  but  one  is  confronted 
with  the  questions,*  Will  the  boys  and  girls  of  a  few 
years  hence  regard  these  shrines  with  any  devotion 
when  they  know  that  Buddhism  and  Shintoism  are 
founded  on  a  faith  that  science  declares  has  no  foun- 
dation? "Will  they  offer  up  money  and  homage  to 
wooden  images  which  their  cultivated  reason  tells 
them  are  no  more  worthy  of  worship  than  the  tele- 
graph poles  along  the  lines  of  the  railway?*** 

[42] 


Japanese  Life  and  Character 

The  Japanese  way  of  doing  things  is  the  exaft 
reverse  of  the  American  way  generally,  but  if  one 
studies  the  methods  of  this  Oriental  race  it  will  be 
found  that  their  way  is  frequently  most  effective. 
Thus,  in  addressing  letters  they  always  put  the  city 
first,  then  the  street  address  and  finally  the  number, 
while  they  never  fail  to  put  the  writer's  name  and 
address  on  the  reverse  of  the  envelope,  which  saves 
the  postoffice  employes  much  trouble  and  pradically 
eliminates  the  dead-letter  office. 

The  Japanese  sampan,  as  well  as  other  boats,  is 
never  painted,  but  it  is  always  scrubbed  clean.  The 
sampan  has  a  sharp  bow  and  a  wide,  square  stern, 
and  navigators  say  it  will  live  in  a  sea  which  would 
swamp  the  ordinary  Whitehall  boat  of  our  water- 
front. The  Japanese  oar  is  long  and  looks  unwieldy, 
being  spliced  together  in  the  middle.  It  is  balanced 
on  a  short  wooden  peg  on  the  gunwale  and  the 
oarsman  works  it  like  a  sweep,  standing  up  and 
bending  over  it  at  each  stroke.  The  result  is  a  scull- 
ing motion,  which  carries  the  boat  forward  very  rap- 
idly. In  no  Japanese  harbor  do  the  big  steamships 
come  up  to  the  wharf.  They  drop  anchor  in  the 
harbor,  and  they  are  always  surrounded  by  small 
sampans,  the  owners  of  which  are  eager  to  take  pas- 
sengers ashore  for  about  twenty-five  cents  each.  All 
cargo  is  taken  aboard  by  lighters  or  unloaded  in  the 
same  way.  These  lighters  hold  as  much  as  a  railroad 
freight  car. 

The  fishing  boats  of  Japan  add  much  to  the  pic- 
tu-esqueness  of  all  the  harbors,  as  they  have  sails 
arranged  in  narrow  strips  laced  to  bamboo  poles,  and 
they  may  be  drawn  up  and  lowered  like  the  curtains 
in  an  American  shop  window.  Whether  square  or 
triangular,  these  sails  have  a  graceful  appearance  and 
they  are  handled  far  more  easily  than  ours. 

[43] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

The  Japanese  carpenter,  who  draws  his  plane  as 
well  as  his  saw  toward  himself,  appears  to  work  in 
an  awkward  and  ungainly  way,  but  he  does  as  fine 
work  as  the  American  cabinet-maker.  The  beauty 
of  the  interior  woodwork  of  even  the  houses  of  the 
poorer  classes  is  a  constant  marvel  to  the  tourist. 
Nothing  is  ever  painted  about  the  Japanese  house, 
so  the  fineness  of  the  grain  of  the  wood  is  revealed 
as  well  as  the  exquisite  polish.  A  specialty  of  the 
Japanese  carpenter  is  lattice-work  for  the  windows 
and  grill-work  for  doors.  These  add  very  much  to 
the  beauty  of  unpretentious  houses. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that  Japan  offers 
the  lover  of  the  beautiful  an  unlimited  opportunity 
to  gratify  his  aesthetic  senses.  In  city  or  country  he 
cannot  fail  to  find  on  every  hand  artistic  things  that 
appeal  powerfully  to  his  sense  of  beauty.  Whether 
in  an  ancient  temple  or  a  new  home  for  a  poor  vil- 
lage artisan,  he  will  see  the  results  of  the  same  in- 
stin6live  sense  of  the  beautiful  and  the  harmonious. 
The  lines  are  always  lines  of  grace,  and  the  colors 
are  always  those  which  blend  and  gratify  the  eye. 


[44] 


Will  the 

Japanese  Retain  Their 

Good  Traits? 


A  NY  thoughtful  visitor  to  Japan  must  be  im- 
/\  pressed  with  the  problems  that  confront  Japan 
X  jL  to-day,  owing  to  the  influence  of  foreign 
thought  and  customs.  This  influence  is  the  more  to 
be  dreaded  because  the  Japanese  are  so  impression- 
able and  so  prone  to  accept  anything  which  they  are 
convinced  is  superior  to  their  own.  They  have  very 
little  of  the  Chinese  passion  for  what  has  been  made 
sacred  by  long  usage.  They  have  high  regard  for 
their  ancestors,  but  very  little  reverence  for  their 
customs  and  opinions.  This  lack  of  veneration  is 
shown  in  striking  fashion  by  those  Japanese  stu- 
dents who  come  to  this  country  to  gain  an  education. 
These  young  men  are  as  eager  as  the  ancient  Athen- 
ians for  any  new  thing,  and  when  they  return  to 
their  old  homes  each  is  a  center  of  Occidental  influ- 
ence. This  is  frequently  not  for  the  best  interests  of 
their  countrymen,  who  have  not  had  their  own  op- 
portunities of  observation  and  comparison. 

The  qualities  in  which  the  Japanese  excel  are  the 
very  qualities  in  which  so  many  Americans  are  de- 
ficient. Personal  courage  and  loyalty  are  the  traits 
which  Professor  Scherer,  a  distinguished  expert,  re- 
gards as  the  fundamental  traits  otthe  Japanese  char- 
ader.  That  these  qualities  have  not  been  weakened 
materially  was  shown  in  the  recent  war  with  Russia. 
In  that  tremendous  struggle  was  demonstrated  the 


[45] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 
power  of  a  small  nation,  in  which  everyone-men, 
women  and  children-were  united  in  a  passionate 
devotion  to  their  country.  No  similar  spedlacle  was 
ever  shown  in  modern  history.  The  men  who  went 
cheerfully  to  certain  death  before  Port  Arthur  re- 
vealed no  higher  loyalty  than  the  wives  at  home 
who  committed  suicide  that  their  husbands  might 
not  be  called  upon  to  choose  between  personal  devo- 
tion to  their  family  and  absolute  loyalty  to  the  nation. 
The  foreign  correspondents,  who  were  on  two- 
hundred-and-three-metre  hill  before  Port  Arthur, 
have  told  of  the  Japanese  soldiers  in  the  ranks  who 
tied  ropes  to  their  feet  in  order  that  their  comrades 
might  pull  their  bodies  back  into  the  trenches.  All 
those  who  were  drafted  to  make  the  assaults  on  the 
Russian  works  in  that  awful  series  of  encounters 
(which  make  the  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Bal- 
aklava  seem  cheap  and  theatrical)  knew  they  were 
going  to  certain  death.  Yet  these  foreign  observers 
have  left  on  record  that  the  only  sentiment  among 
those  who  remained  in  the  trenches  was  envy  that 
they  had  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  be  seledied  to 
show  this  supreme  loyalty  to  their  country.  General 
Nogi,  who  recently  committed  suicide  with  his  wife 
on  the  day  of  the  funeral  of  the  late  Emperor,  had 
two  sons  dash  to  this  certain  death  on  the  blood- 
stained hill  before  Port  Arthur.  As  commander,  he 
could  have  assigned  them  to  less  dangerous  posi- 
tions, but  it  probably  never  entered  his  head  to  shield 
his  own  flesh  and  blood.  And  the  same  loyalty  that 
is  shown  to  country  is  also  proved  in  the  relation  of 
servant  to  master.  The  story  of  the  Forty-seven 
Ronins  is  too  well  known  to  need  repetition,  but  the 
loyalty  of  these  retainers  (who  slew  the  man  that 
caused  their  lord's  death,  although  they  knew  that 
this  deed  called  for  their  immediate  end  by  their  own 

[46] 


Will  Japanese  Retain  Good  Traits? 

hands)  impresses  one  with  new  force  when  he  stands 
before  the  tombs  of  these  men  in  the  Japanese  cap- 
ital and  sees  the  profound  reverence  in  which  they 
are  still  held  by  the  people  of  Japan. 

What  puzzles  the  foreign  observer  is:  Will  this 
passionate  loyalty  of  servant  to  master  survive  the 
spedlacle  of  the  ingratitude  and  self-interest  which  the 
Japanese  see  in  the  relation  of  master  and  servant 
in  most  Christian  countries?  The  whole  tendency 
of  life  in  other  countries  than  his  own  is  against  this 
loyalty,  which  has  been  bred  in  his  very  marrow. 
How  long,  without  the  mainstay  of  religion,  will  the 
Japanese  cling  to  this  outworn  but  beautiful  relic  of 
his  old  life?  And  it  must  be  confessed  that  religion 
is  rapidly  losing  its  hold  on  the  men  of  Japan.  Those 
who  have  been  abroad  are  apt  to  return  home  free- 
thinkers, because  the  spectacle  of  the  practical  work- 
ing of  Christianity  is  not  conducive  to  faith  among 
so  shrewd  a  people  as  the  Japanese.  Even  the  ex- 
ample of  the  foreigners  in  Japan  is  an  influence  that 
the  missionaries  regard  as  prejudicial  to  Christianity. 

Another  trait  of  the  Japanese  which  will  not  be 
improved  by  contact  with  foreigners,  and  especially 
with  Americans,  is  thoroughness.  This  trait  is  seen 
on  every  hand  in  Japan.  Nothing  is  built  in  a  slov- 
enly way,  whether  for  private  use  or  for  the  gov- 
ernment. The  91  tisan  never  scamps  his  work.  He 
seems  to  have  retained  the  old  mechanic's  pride  in 
doing  everything  well  which  he  sets  his  hand  to  do. 
This  is  seen  in  the  carving  of  many  works  of  art, 
as  well  as  in  the  building  of  the  ornamental  gate- 
ways throughout  the  empire,  that  stand  as  monu- 
ments to  the  aesthetic  sense  of  the  people.  Yet  the 
whole  influence  of  foreign  teaching  and  example  is 
against  this  thoroughness  that  is  ingrained  in  the 
Japanese  character.   The  young  people  cannot  fail 

[47] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 
to  see  that  it  does  not  pay  their  elders  to  expend  so 
much  time  and  effort  to  gain  perfedtion,  when  their 
foreign  rivals  secure  apparently  equal  if  not  superior 
results  by  quick  and  careless  work.  It  is  upon  these 
Japanese  children  that  the  future  of  the  empire  de- 
pends. They  are  sure  to  be  infedted  by  these  objed 
lessons  in  the  gospel  of  selfish  and  careless  work, 
which  the  labor  union  leaders  in  our  country  have 
preached  until  it  has  been  accepted  by  the  great 
mass  of  mechanics. 

Another  racial  quality  of  the  Japanese,  which  is 
likely  to  suffer  from  contad:  with  foreigners,  is  his 
politeness.  This  is  innate  and  not  acquired;  it  does 
not  owe  any  of  its  force  to  selfish  considerations. 
The  traveler  in  Japan  is  amazed  to  see  this  polite- 
ness among  all  classes,  just  as  he  sees  the  artistic 
impulse  flowering  among  the  children  of  rough  toil- 
ers in  the  fields.  And  again  the  question  arises: 
Will  the  Japanese  retain  this  attradive  trait  when 
they  come  into  more  intimate  contadt  with  the  for- 
eigner, who  believes  in  courtesy  mainly  as  a  business 
asset  rather  than  as  a  social  virtue? 

So,  in  summing  up  one's  impressions  of  Japan, 
there  comes  this  inevitable  doubt  of  the  permanence 
of  the  fine  qualities  which  make  the  Japanese  nation 
to-day  so  distindl  from  any  other.  The  Japanese 
may  differ  from  all  other  races  in  their  power  of  re- 
sisting the  corrupting  influences  of  foreign  associa- 
tion, but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  visitor  to  the 
Mikado's  land  fifty  years  from  now  may  not  only 
find  no  Mikado,  but  none  of  the  peculiarly  gracious 
qualities  in  the  Japanese  people  which  to-day  set 
them  apart  from  all  other  nations. 


[48] 


???? 


II 


■p  3    o   a   = 

s-  ^  s^  2  =» 

9    II    O 


Co- 
ll 3 


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8  ? 


-    S    H2.T3 
"   2    ^    <    i> 

J  «  7  R- 


<  X 


•J  .H  fc  •£  «:  3 
~  <^  -*  <«  L.  s 

*>    ^    u    §    «    »• 
o  j=  -g    u  CO  J3    g 


-a  Ui 


:   °   o  "^^  E  c  S 


;  o 


M^ 


?  n    n    6    DO 

<  3  3  3  q  3 
:.  S.  i  5-  H  ?  r  > 

1  "  s-  ■  -=  i  = 


4J    I— I      C 


bo  5 

05    C    . 
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■g  d  ea 


o  «  c  u  _  « :5 

«  c  t;  ^  S!  „ 

-•   4^    rt  Ji    u  •  -     - 

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^  -O 

05 


PLATE    V 

Avenue  of  Cryptomeria  to  Futaani  Temple,  Nikko. 

This  Pidture  Gives  a  Good  Idea  of  the  Effectiveness  of  the 

Tori  or  Gate,  of  Black  or  Red  Lacquer  or  Natural 

Wood,  Which  Stands  at  the  Entrance 

to  Most  Parks  and  Temples 


PLATE   VI 

Avenue  of  Cryptomeria  Trees,  near  Nikko. 

This  Splendid  Avenue,  Lined  with  Huge  Cedar  Trees 

from  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  to  Two  Hundred 

Feet  in  Height,  Extends  for  Five  Miles 

from  Nikko  to  Imaichi 


i 


PLATE    VII 

Great  Bronze  Torii,  Nikko. 

These  Torii  or  Gates  Form  the  Mott 

ChaniAeristic  Feature  of  Japanese  Landscape«. 

Are  Always  of  the  Same  Pattern  But 

Infinite  in  Variety  of  Decoration 


They 


PLATE    VIII 

Stone  Lanterns,  Kasuga  Temple  Park,  Nara. 

A  Remarkable  Colledtion  of  Lanterns  Which  Line 

the  Avenue  Leading  to  the  Temple.    In  This 

Park  Many  Tame  Deer  Wander,  Their 

Horns  Being  Cut  Once  a  Year 

in  Odtober 


PLAIE    IX 

Religious  Procession,  Kyoto. 

This  Gives  a  Good  Idea  of  a  Familiar  Sight  in 

all  Japanese  Cities.    Many  of  the  Standards  Carried  in 

These  Processions  are  Very  Beautiful, 

With  Silk  Streamers  of 

Many   Colors 


^        __  —  -a  -o         „ 


2  „  o  =  S  =.8- 


o.  S  -3.  -'— ''^ 

^  u  u  a  K^  ^ 


g    w  £     I 

"^'^  So  § 

O      .  J3  BQ  J=    O 

J3    C    *-  „  .u    g 

I.  •-    is  n  "^  — 

i  <  U  iS  g-^  < 

;  t.  2  I.  w  <-.  « 


PLATE   XIII 

Japanese  Peasant  Group  by  the  Roadside. 

These  Country  People  Show  Keen  Curiosity  in 

Regard  to  the  Foreign  Tourist  but  They 

Are  Always  Courteous 


«j    „    "         JS 

>  a,    .  ^S  g-  g  ^  -I 

i"    ■?    ^_.    u    •»    w  "o    a-."" 


3-  ?. «  I  8  ^ 
^  sT  3  5-  H  §.  < 


PLATE    XVI 

Private  Garden,  Kamakura. 

This  Gives  a  Good  Idea  of  the  Arrangement 

of  a  Japanese  Garden.     To  the  Influence  of  the 

Garden  is  Ascribed  the  Japanese  Love  of 

the  Beautiful  in  Nature  and  Art 


MANILA, 

TRANSFORMED  BY  THE 

AMERICANS 


First  Impressions  of 

Manila  and  Its  Picturesque 

People 


THE  bay  of  Manila  is  so  extensive  that  the 
steamer  appears  to  be  entering  a  great  inland 
sea.  The  shores  are  low-lying  and  it  takes 
about  an  hour  before  the  steamer  nears  the  city,  so 
that  one  can  make  out  the  landmarks.  To  the  right, 
as  one  approaches  the  city,  is  Cavite,  which  Dewey 
took  on  that  historic  May  day  in  1898.  The  spires 
of  many  churches  are  the  most  conspicuous  land- 
marks in  Manila,  but  as  the  distance  lessens  a  huge 
mass  of  concrete,  the  new  Manila  hotel,  looms  up 
near  the  docks.  The  bay  is  full  of  ships  and  along- 
side the  docks  are  a  number  of  passenger  and  freight 
steamers. 

Just  as  we  are  able  to  make  out  these  things,  our 
cars  catch  the  strains  of  a  fine  band  of  music  and  we 
see  two  launches  rapidly  nearing  the  ship.  In  one 
is  a  portion  of  the  splendid  Constabulary  Band,  the 
finest  in  the  Orient.  In  the  other  launch  was  the 
special  committee  of  the  Manila  Merchants*  Asso- 
ciation. The  band  played  several  stirring  airs,  every- 
body cheered  and  waved  handkerchiefs  and  for  a 
few  minutes  it  looked  as  though  an  impromptu 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  had  begun.  It  is  difficult 
to  describe  an  American's  emotions  when  he  sees  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  for  the  first  time  in  five  weeks. 
The  most  phlegmatic  man  on  the  ship  danced  a  war 
dance,  women  wept,  and  when  the  reception  com- 


[s«] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

mittee  boarded  the  ship  and  met  the  passengers  in 
the  dining  saloon  there  was  great  enthusiasm.  Plans 
were  arranged  for  crowding  into  the  two  days'  stay 
all  the  sightseeing  and  entertainment  possible  and 
these  plans  were  carried  out,  giving  a  fine  proof  of 
Manila  hospitality. 

Manila  differs  from  most  of  the  Oriental  cities 
in  the  fad:  that  American  enterprise  has  constructed 
great  docks  and  dredged  out  the  harbor  so  that  the 
largest  steamers  may  anchor  alongside  the  docks. 
In  Yokohama,  Kobe,  Hongkong  and  other  ports 
ships  anchor  in  the  bay  and  passengers  and  freight 
must  be  transferred  to  the  shore  by  launches  and 
lighters.  Reinforced  concrete  is  now  the  favorite 
building  material  of  the  new  Manila.  Not  only  are 
the  piles  and  docks  made  of  this  material,  but  all  the 
new  warehouses  and  business  buildings  as  well  as 
most  of  the  American  and  foreign  residences  are  of 
concrete.  It  is  substantial,  clean,  cool  and  enduring, 
meeting  every  requirement  of  this  tropical  climate. 
The  white  ant,  which  is  so  destrudlive  to  the  ordi- 
nary wooden  pile,  does  not  attack  it. 

The  Pasig  river  divides  Manila  into  two  sections. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  old  walled  city  are  the  large 
distrids  of  Malate,  Ermito  and  Paco.  On  the  north 
side  is  the  principal  retail  business  street,  the  Escolta 
and  the  other  business  thoroughfares  lined  with  small 
shops,  and  six  large  native  districts.  The  Escolta  is 
only  four  blocks  long,  very  narrow,  with  sidewalks 
barely  three  feet  wide;  yet  here  is  done  most  of  the 
foreign  retail  trade.  In  a  short  time  a  new  Escolta 
will  be  built  in  the  filled  distridt,  as  it  would  cost  too 
much  to  widen  the  old  street.  As  a  car  line  runs 
through  the  Escolta,  there  is  a  bad  congestion  of 
traffic  at  all  times  except  in  the  early  morning  hours. 
The   Bridge   of  Spain   is   one   of  the  impressive 

[S2] 


First  Impressions  of  Manila 
sights  of  Manila.  With  its  massive  arches  of  gray 
stone,  it  looks  as  though  it  would  be  able  to  endure 
for  many  more  centuries.  One  of  the  oldest  struc- 
tures in  the  city,  it  was  built  originally  on  pontoons, 
and  it  was  provided  with  the  present  arches  in  1630. 
Only  one  earthquake,  that  of  1 863, damaged  it.  Then 
two  of  the  middle  arches  gave  way,  and  these  were 
not  restored  for  twelve  years.  The  roadway  is  wide, 
but  it  is  crowded  all  day  with  as  piduresque  a  pro- 
cession as  may  be  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
The  carromata,  a  light,  two-wheeled  cart,with  hooded 
cover,  pulled  by  a  native  pony,  is  the  favorite  con- 
veyance of  the  foreigners  and  the  better  class  of  the 
Filipinos.  The  driver  sits  in  front,  while  two  may 
ride  very  comfortably  on  the  back  seat.  It  is  a  great 
improvement  on  the  Japanese  jinrikisha  because  one 
may  compare  impressions  with  a  companion.  The 
country  cart  is  built  something  like  the  carromata 
and  will  accommodate  four  people.  Hundreds  of 
these  carts  come  into  Manila  every  day  with  small 
stocks  of  vegetables  and  fruit  for  sale  at  the  mar- 
kets. A  few  vidtorias  may  be  seen  on  the  bridge, 
but  what  causes  most  of  the  congestion  is  the  carabao 
cart,  hauling  the  heavy  freight.  The  carabao  (pro- 
nounced carabough,  with  the  accent  on  the  last  syl- 
lable), is  the  water  buffalo  of  the  Philippines,  a  slow, 
ungainly  beast  of  burden  that  proves  patient  and 
tradable  so  long  as  he  can  enjoy  a  daily  swim.  If  cut 
off  from  water  the  beast  becomes  irritable,  soon  gets 
"loco"  and  is  then  dangerous,  as  it  will  attack  men 
or  animals  and  gore  them  with  its  sharp  horns.  The 
carabao  has  little  hair  and  its  nose  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  that  of  the  hippopotamus.  Its  har- 
ness consists  of  a  neckyoke  of  wood  fastened  to  the 
thills  of  the  two-wheeled  cart.  On  this  cart  is  fre- 
quently piled  two  tonSjWhich  the  carabao  pulls  easily. 

[S3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

Another  bridge  which  has  historic  interest  for 
the  American  is  the  San  Juan  bridge.  It  is  reached 
by  the  Santa  Mesa  car  line.  Here  at  either  end 
were  encamped  the  American  and  Filipino  armed 
forces,  and  the  insurred:ioh  was  started  by  a  shot  at 
night  from  the  native  trenches.  The  bridge  was  the 
scene  of  fierce  fighting,  which  proved  disastrous  to 
the  Filipinos. 

Aside  from  the  bridges  and  the  life  along  the 
Pasig  river,  the  most  interesting  part  of  Manila  lies 
within  the  old  walled  city.  This  sedion  is  known 
locally  as"IntraMuros."  It  is  still  surrounded  by  the 
massive  stone  wall,  which  was  begun  in  1591  but  not 
adiually  completed  until  1872.  The  wall  was  built 
to  prote<5t  the  city  from  free-booters,  as  Manila,  like 
old  Panama,  oflFered  a  tempting  prize  to  pirates.  Into 
the  wall  was  built  old  Fort  Santiago,  which  still 
stands.  The  wall  varies  in  thickness  from  three  to 
forty  feet,  and  in  it  were  built  many  chambers  used 
as  places  of  confinement  and  torture.  Until  six  years 
ago  a  wide  moat  surrounded  the  wall,  but  the  stag- 
nant water  bred  disease  and  the  moat  was  filled  with 
the  silt  dredged  up  from  the  bay.  Fort  Santiago 
forms  the  northwest  corner  of  the  wall.  Its  prede- 
cessor was  a  palisade  of  bags,  built  in  1 571,  behind 
which  the  Spaniards  defended  themselves  against  the 
warlike  native  chiefs.  In  1590  the  stone  fort  was 
begun.  Within  it  was  the  court  of  the  military  gov- 
ernment. Seven  gates  were  used  as  entrances  to  the 
walled  city  in  old  Spanish  days,  the  most  picturesque 
being  the  Real  gate,  bearing  the  date  of  1780,  and 
the  Santa  Lucia  gate,  with  the  inscription  of  178 1. 
These  gates  were  closed  every  night,  and  some  of 
the  massive  machinery  used  for  this  purpose  may  be 
seen  lying  near  by— a  reminder  of  those  good  old 
days  when  the  belated  traveler  camped  outside. 

[54l 


First  Impressions  of  Manila 

In  the  old  walled  city  are  some  of  the  famous 
churches  of  Manila.  The  oldest  is  San  Augustin, 
first  dedicated  in  1571.  The  present  strudure  was 
built  two  years  later,  the  first  having  been  completely 
destroyed  by  fire.  The  enormously  thick  walls  were 
laid  so  well  that  they  have  withstood  the  severe  earth- 
quakes which  proved  so  destructive  to  many  other 
churches.  In  this  church  are  buried  Legaspi  and 
Salcedo,  the  explorers,  who  spread  Spanish  dominion 
over  the  Philippines. 

The  Church  of  St.  Ignatius  is  famous  for  the 
beautifully  carved  woodwork  of  the  pulpit  and  the 
interior  decorations;  that  of  Santo  Domingo  is  cele- 
brated for  its  finely  carved  doors.  The  greatest  shrine 
in  the  Phillippines  is  the  Cathedral,  which  fronts  on 
Plaza  McKinley.  This  is  the  fifth  building  ereded 
on  the  same  site,  fire  having  destroyed  the  other  four. 
The  architecture  is  Byzantine,  and  the  interior  gives 
a  wonderful  impression  of  grace  and  spaciousness. 
Some  of  the  old  doors  and  iron  grill-work  of  the 
ancient  cathedrals  have  been  retained. 


[55] 


American 

Work  in  the  Philippine 

Islands 


IT  will  surprise  any  American  visitor  to  the  Phil- 
ippine Islands  to  find  how  much  has  been  ac- 
complished since  1898  to  make  life  better  worth 
living  for  the  Filipino  as  well  as  for  the  European 
or  the  American.  Civil  government  through  the 
Philippine  Commission  has  been  in  ad:ive  operation 
for  ten  years.  During  this  decade  what  Americans 
have  achieved  in  solving  difficult  problems  of  colo- 
nial government  is  matter  for  national  pride.  The 
American  method  in  the  Philippines  looks  to  giving 
the  native  the  largest  measure  of  self-government 
of  which  he  is  capable.  It  has  not  satisfied  the  Fili- 
pino, because  he  imagines  that  he  is  all  ready  for 
self-government,  but  it  has  done  much  to  lift  him 
out  of  the  dead  level  of  peonage  in  which  the  Span- 
iard kept  him  and  to  open  the  doors  of  opportunity 
to  young  Filipinos  with  ability  and  energy.  I  talked 
with  many  men  in  various  professions  and  in  many 
kinds  of  business  and  all  agreed  that  the  American 
system  worked  wonders  in  advancing  the  natives  of 
real  ability. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  W.  Wright  of  Manila,  who  has 
charge  of  a  large  Presbyterian  seminary  for  training 
young  Filipinos  for  the  ministry,  and  who  has  had 
much  experience  in  teaching,  said:  "In  the  old  days 
only  the  sons  of  the  illustrados,  or  prominent  men 
of  the  noble  class,  had  any  chance  to  secure  an  edu- 

[S6] 


^  & 

_^^^P^^^Bm^^^ 

1  ^^^^^^^^^B^^^H 

'  Kt^AhHHHHHI  ' 

jLlBI 

n     I^BR^^I^^^i^I^I 

^^i 

■■jj^^R^^^Hpi 

1    '      ^"""l^M; 

W2 

^M|^'< 

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!ll"»Bill            T 

- 

- 

r 

. 

Imperial  Gate,  Fort  Santiago,  Manila. 

This  is  the  Main  Entrance  to  the  OM  Fort, 

Built  Into  the  Massive  Wall.    This  WaU 

Was  for  Spanish  Defense  Against 

WarUke  Native  Chiefs 


American  Work  in  the  Philippines 
cation  and  this  education  was  given  in  the  Catholic 
private  schools.  With  the  advent  of  the  Americans 
any  boy  possessing  the  faculty  of  learning  quickly 
may  get  a  good  education,  provided  he  will  work  for 
it.  I  know  ofone  case  ofa  boy  who  did  not  even  know 
who  his  parents  were.  He  gained  a  living  by  black- 
ing shoes  and  selling  papers.  He  came  to  me  for  aid 
in  entering  a  night  school.  He  learned  more  rap- 
idly than  anyone  I  ever  knew.  Soon  he  came  to  me 
and  wanted  a  job  that  would  occupy  him  half  a  day 
so  that  he  could  go  to  school  the  other  half  of  the  day. 
I  got  him  the  job  and  in  a  few  months  he  was  not 
only  perfeding  himself  in  English,  but  reading  law. 
Nothing  can  keep  this  boy  down;  in  a  few  years  he 
will  be  a  leader  among  his  people.  Under  the  old 
Spanish  system  he  never  would  have  been  permitted 
to  rise  from  the  low  caste  in  which  fortune  first 
placed  him." 

More  than  a  thousand  American  teachers  arc 
scattered  over  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  for  ten 
years  these  men  and  women  have  been  training  the 
young  of  both  sexes.  Some  have  proved  incompe- 
tent, a  few  have  set  a  very  bad  example,  but  the  great 
majority  have  done  work  of  which  any  nation  might 
be  proud.  They  have  not  only  been  teachers  of  the 
young,  but  they  have  been  counselors  and  friends 
of  the  parents  of  their  pupils. 

The  work  done  in  a  material  way  in  the  Philip- 
pines is  even  more  remarkable.  Of  the  first  impor- 
tance is  the  oflfer  of  a  homestead  to  every  citizen 
from  the  public  lands.  So  much  was  paid  for  the 
friar  lands  that  these  are  far  beyond  the  reach  of  any- 
one of  ordinary  means,  but  the  government  has  large 
reserves  of  public  land,  which  only  need  cultivation 
to  make  them  valuable.  Sanitary  conditions  have 
been  enormously  improved   both  in   Manila  and 

[S7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

throughout  the  islands.  In  the  old  days  Manila  was 
notorious  for  many  deaths  from  cholera,  bubonic 
plague  and  smallpox.  No  sanitary  regulations  were 
enforced  and  the  absence  of  any  provisions  for  sew- 
age led  to  fearful  pestilences.  Now  not  only  has 
Manila  an  admirable  sewerage  system,  but  the  peo- 
ple have  been  taught  to  observe  sanitary  regulations, 
with  the  result  that  in  the  suburbs  of  such  a  city  as 
Manila  the  homes  of  common  people  reveal  much 
better  conditions  than  the  homes  of  similar  classes 
in  Japan.  The  sewage  of  Manila  is  pumped  three 
times  into  large  sumps  before  it  is  finally  dumped 
into  the  bay  a  mile  from  the  city. 

The  island  military  police,  known  as  the  Con- 
stabulary Guard,  has  done  more  to  improve  condi- 
tions throughout  the  islands  than  any  other  agency. 
The  higher  officers  are  drawn  from  the  United  States 
regular  army,  but  the  captains  and  lieutenants  are 
from  civil  life,  and  they  are  mainly  made  up  of 
young  college  graduates.  These  men  get  their  posi- 
tions through  the  civil  service  and,  though  some  fail 
to  make  good,  the  great  majority  succeed.  Their 
positions  demand  unusual  ability,  for  they  not  only 
have  charge  of  companies  of  native  police  that  re- 
semble the  Mexican  rurales  or  the  Canadian  mounted 
police,  but  they  serve  as  counselor  and  friend  to  all 
the  Filipinos  in  their  distrift.  In  this  way  their  in- 
fluence is  frequently  greater  than  that  of  the  school 
teachers. 

All  this  work  and  much  more  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  insular  government  without  calling 
upon  the  United  States  for  any  material  help.  It 
does  not  seem  to  be  generally  known  that  the  Phil- 
ippine Islands  are  now  self-supporting,  and  that  the 
only  expense  entailed  on  the  general  government  is 
a  slight  increase  for  maintaining  regiments  assigned 

[S8] 


American  Work  in  the  Philippines 

to  the  island  service  and  the  cost  of  Corregidor  for- 
tifications and  other  harbor  defenses.  This  has  been 
accomplished  without  excessive  taxation.  Personal 
property  is  exempt,  while  the  rate  on  real  estate  in 
Manila  is  only  one  and  one-half  per  cent,  on  the 
assessed  valuation,  and  only  seven-eights  of  one  per 
cent,  in  the  provinces.  The  fiscal  system  has  been 
put  on  a  gold  basis,  thus  removing  the  old  fluduat- 
ing  silver  currency  which  was  a  great  hardship  to 
trade. 


[S9l 


Scenes  in 

THE  City  of  Manila  and 

Suburbs 


EVERY  visitor  to  Manila  in  the  old  days  ex- 
hausted his  vocabulary  in  praise  of  the  Lun- 
eta,  the  old  Spanish  city's  pleasure  ground, 
which  overlooked  the  bay  and  Corregidor  Island. 
It  was  an  oval  drive,  with  a  bandstand  at  each  end, 
inclosing  a  pretty  grass  plot.  Here,  as  evening  came 
on,  all  Manila  congregated  to  hear  the  band  play  and 
to  meet  friends.  The  Manilan  does  not  walk,  so 
the  broad  drive  was  filled  with  several  rows  of  car- 
riages passing  slowly  around  the  oval.  To-day  the 
Luneta  remains  as  it  was  in  the  old  Spanish  days, 
but  its  chief  charm,  the  seaward  view,  is  gone.  This 
is  due  to  the  filling  in  of  the  harbor  front,  which  has 
left  the  Luneta  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  water- 
front. However,  a  new  Luneta  has  been  made  below 
the  old  one,  and  the  broad  avenues  opened  up  near 
by  give  far  more  space  for  carriages  than  before. 
Every  evening  except  Monday  the  Constabulary 
Band  plays  on  the  Luneta,  and  the  scene  is  almost 
as  brilliant  as  in  the  old  days,  as  the  American  Gov- 
ernment officials  make  it  a  point  to  turn  out  in  uni- 
form. Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  perfedt  than 
the  evenings  in  Manila  after  the  heat  of  the  day. 
The  air  is  deliciously  soft  and  a  gentle  breeze  from 
the  ocean  tempers  the  heat. 

The  best  way  to  see  the  native  life  of  Manila  is 
to  take  a  street-car  ride  through  the  Tondo  and 

[60] 


Scenes  in  Manila  and  Its  Suburbs 

Caloocan  districts,  or  a  launch  ride  up  the  Pasig 
river.  On  the  cars  one  passes  through  the  heart  of 
the  business  distrid,  the  great  Tondo  market,  filled 
with  supplies  from  the  surrounding  country  as  well 
as  many  small  articles  of  native  or  foreign  manufac- 
ture. This  car  line  also  passes  the  Maypajo,  the 
largest  cockpit  in  the  world,  where  at  regular  inter- 
vals the  best  fighting  cocks  are  pitted  against  each 
other  and  the  betting  is  as  spirited  as  on  American 
race  tracks  in  the  old  days.  On  the  return  trip  by 
these  cars  one  passes  by  the  San  Juan  bridge,  which 
marked  the  opening  of  the  insurrection;  the  old  Mal- 
acanan  Palace,  now  the  residence  of  Governor-Gen- 
eral Forbes,  and  the  Paco  Cemetery,  where  several 
thousand  bodies  are  buried  in  the  great  circular  wall 
which  surrounds  the  church.  These  niches  in  the 
wall  are  rented  for  a  certain  yearly  sum,  and  in  the 
old  Spanish  days,  when  this  rental  was  not  promptly 
paid  by  relatives,  the  corpse  was  removed  and  thrown 
with  others  into  a  great  pit.  Recently  this  ghastly 
practice  has  been  frowned  on  by  the  authorities. 

The  average  Manila  resident  does  not  pay  more 
than  fifty  dollars  in  our  money  for  his  nipa  house. 
The  framework  is  of  bamboo,  bound  together  by 
rattan;  the  roof  timbers  are  of  bamboo,  while  the 
sides  of  the  house  and  the  thatch  are  made  from  the 
nipa  tree.  The  sides  look  like  mats.  The  windows 
are  of  translucent  shell,  while  the  door  is  of  nipa  or 
wood.  These  houses  are  usually  about  fifteen  feet 
square,  with  one  large  room,  and  are  raised  about  six 
feet  from  the  ground.  Under  the  house  is  kept  the 
live  stock.  When  the  family  has  a  horse  or  cow  or 
carabap  the  house  is  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
these  animals  are  stabled  underneath.  In  nearly 
every  house  or  yard  may  be  found  a  game  cock  tied 
by  the  leg  to  prevent  him  from  roaming  and  fighting. 

[6,] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

In  most  of  the  houses  that  the  cars  passed  in  the 
big  native  quarter  of  Tondo,  furniture  was  scanty. 
Usually  the  family  has  a  large  dresser,  which  is  orna- 
mented with  cheap  pictures,  and  the  walls  are  fre- 
quently covered  with  prints  in  colors.  There  is  no 
furniture,  as  the  Filipino's  favorite  position  is  to 
squat  on  his  haunches.  In  many  of  the  poorest 
houses,  however,  were  gramophones,  which  are  paid 
for  in  monthly  installments  of  a  dollar  or  two.  The 
Filipinos  are  very  fond  of  music,  and  the  cheap 
gramophones  appeal  to  them  strongly.  Nearly  every 
Filipino  plays  some  instrument  by  ear,  and  many 
boys  from  the  country  are  expert  players  on  the 
guitar  or  mandolin.  On  large  plantations  the  hands 
are  fond  of  forming  bands  and  orchestras,  and  often 
their  playing  would  do  credit  to  professional  musi- 
cians. The  Constabulary  Band,  recognized  as  the 
finest  in  the  Orient,  has  been  drilled  by  an  American 
negro  named  Loring. 

In  the  Santa  Mesa  distrid  are  the  houses  of 
wealthy  Filipinos.  These  are  usually  of  two  stories, 
with  the  upper  story  projefting  far  over  the  lower, 
and  with  many  ornamental  dormer  windows,  with 
casement  sashes  of  small  pieces  of  translucent  shell. 
In  Manila  the  window  is  provided  to  keep  out  the 
midday  heat  and  glare  of  the  sun.  At  other  times 
the  windows  are  slid  into  the  walls,  and  thus  nearly 
the  whole  side  of  the  house  is  open  to  the  cool  night 
air.  Many  of  these  houses  are  finished  in  the  finest 
hardwoods,  and  not  a  few  have  polished  mahogany 
floors.  Bamboo  and  rattan  furniture  may  be  seen  in 
some  of  these  houses,  while  in  others  are  dressers 
and  wardrobes  in  the  rich  native  woods.  These 
houses  are  embowered  in  trees,  among  which  the 
magnolia,  acacia  and  palm  are  the  favorites,  with 
banana  and  pomelo  trees  heavy  with  fruit. 

[62] 


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PLATS  XIX 

The  Binondo  Canal,  Which  Intenedt  a 

Crowded  DistriA  of  Manila.    The  PiAure  Give* 

a  Good  Idea  of  the  Cascoes  or  Native 

Cargo  Boats 


PLATE   XX 

On  the  Malecon  Drive,  Manila. 

One  of  the  Pidhiresque  Roads,  Lined 

With  Feathery  Palms,  That 

Lead  to  the  Luneta 


PLATE  XXI 

View  on  a  Manila  Canal. 

This  Givej  a  Good  Idea  of  the  Native  Nipa 

Huts  Along  the  Banks  of  the  Canal, 

and  a  Bamboo  Foot-bridge 


PLATE   XXII 

A  Filipino  Peasant  Girl  on  the 
Way  to  Market.     She  Wears  the  Native  Costume 
With  the  Enormous  Bamboo  Hat.    The 
Water  Jar  is  Like  the  Spanish- 
American  OUa 


PLATE  XXIII 

The  Carabao  Cart  in  the  Philippines. 

The  Carabao  or  Water  BufTalo  is  the  Filipinos'  Chief 

Beast  of  Burden.    The  Cart  is  Crude  and  Heavy, 

With  a  Home-made  Yoke.    The  Buflfalo 

is  also  Used  for  Ploughing  and 

Other  Fann  Work 


'■«  a; 


u  .s  cj  < 


h  •=  1  U,  .-2  ^  £  .>  00       '^ 


HONGKONG, 

CANTON,  SINGAPORE 

AND  RANGOON 


Hongkong,  the 

Greatest  British  Port  in 

THE  Orient 


THE  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Hongkong  is 
one  of  the  most  impressive  in  the  world.  The 
steamer  runs  along  by  the  mainland  for  sev- 
eral miles.  Then  a  great  island  is  descried,  covered 
with  smelting  works,  huge  dockyards,  great  ware- 
houses and  other  evidences  of  commercial  adivity. 
This  is  the  lower  end  of  the  island  of  Vidoria,  on 
which  the  city  of  Hongkong  has  been  built.  The 
island  was  ceded  by  China  to  Great  Britain  in  1 842, 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  opium  war.  It  is  separated 
from  the  mainland  of  China  by  an  arm  of  the  sea, 
varying  from  one  mile  to  five  miles  in  width.  This 
forms  the  harbor  of  Hongkong,  one  of  the  most 
spacious  and  pidnresque  in  the  world.  It  is  crowded 
with  steamers,  ferryboats,  Chinese  junks  with  queer- 
shaped  sails  of  yellow  matting,  sampans,  trim  steam 
launches  and  various  other  craft.  As  the  vessel 
passes  beyond  the  smelting  works  and  the  dry  docks 
it  rounds  a  point  and  the  beauty  of  Hongkong  is 
revealed. 

The  city  is  built  at  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill  nearly 
two  thousand  feet  in  height.  Along  the  crescent 
harbor  front  are  ranged  massive  business  buildings 
with  colonaded  fronts  and  rows  of  windows.  Behind 
the  business  sedion  the  hills  rise  so  abruptly  that 
many  of  the  streets  are  seen  to  be  merely  rows  of 
granite  stairs.    Still  farther  back  are  the  homes  of 

[65] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

Hongkong  residents,  beautiful  stone  or  brick  struc- 
tures, which  look  out  upon  the  busy  harbor.  With 
a  glass  one  can  make  out  the  cable  railroad  which 
climbs  straight  up  the  mountainside  for  over  one 
thousand  feet  and  then  turns  sharply  to  the  right 
until  the  station  is  reached,  about  thirteen  hundred 
feet  above  sea  level. 

Hongkong  differs  radically  from  Yokohama, 
Tokio,  Kobe,  Nagasaki  or  Manila,  because  of  the 
blocks  of  solid,  granite-faced  buildings  that  line  its 
water  front,  each  with  its  rows  of  Venetian  windows, 
recessed  in  balconies.  This  is  the  prevailing  archi- 
tecture for  hotels,  business  buildings  and  residences, 
while  dignity  is  lent  to  every  strudure  by  the  enor- 
mous height  between  stories,  the  average  being  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  feet.  This  impression  of  loftiness 
is  increased  by  the  use  of  the  French  window,  which 
extends  from  the  floor  almost  to  the  ceiling,  all  the 
windows  being  provided  with  large  transoms. 

The  feature  of  Hongkong  which  impresses  the 
stranger  the  most  vividly  is  the  great  mixture  of 
races  in  the  streets.  Here  for  the  first  time  one  finds 
the  sedan  chair,  with  two  or  four  bearers.  It  is  used 
largely  in  Hongkong  for  climbing  the  steep  streets 
which  are  impossible  for  the  jinrikisha.  The  bearers 
are  low-class  coolies  from  the  country,  whose  rough 
gait  makes  riding  in  a  chair  the  nearest  approach  to 
horseback  exercise.  The  jinrikisha  is  also  largely  in 
evidence,  but  the  bearers  are  a  great  contrast  in  their 
rapacious  manners  to  the  courteous  and  smiling  Jap- 
anese in  all  the  cities  of  the  Mikado's  land. 

Queen's  road,  the  main  business  street  of  Hong- 
kongjfurnishes  an  extraordinary  spedacle  at  any  hour 
of  the  day.  The  roadway  is  lined  with  shops,  while 
the  sidewalks,  covered  by  the  verandas  of  the  sec- 
ond stories  of  the  buildings,  form  a  virtual  arcade, 

[66] 


Greatest  British  Port  in  Orient 

proteded  from  the  fierce  rays  of  the  sun.  These 
shops  are  mainly  designed  to  catch  the  eye  of  the 
foreigner,  and  they  are  filled  with  a  remarkable  col- 
ledion  of  silks,  linens,  ivories,  carvings  and  other 
articles  that  appeal  to  the  American  because  of  the 
skilled  labor  that  has  been  expended  upon  them. 
Carvings  and  embroidery  that  represent  the  work  of 
months  are  sold  at  such  low  prices  as  to  make  one 
marvel  how  anyone  can  afford  to  produce  them 
even  in  this  land  of  cheap  living. 

The  crowd  that  streams  past  these  shops  is  even 
more  curious  than  the  goods  offered  for  sale.  Here 
East  and  West  meet  in  daily  association.  The  Eng- 
lishman is  easily  recognized  by  his  air  of  proprietor- 
ship, although  his  usual  high  color  is  somewhat 
reduced  by  the  climate.  He  has  stamped  his  per- 
sonality on  Hongkong  and  he  has  builded  here  for 
generations  to  come.  The  German  is  liberally  rep- 
resented, and  old  Hongkong  residents  bewail  the 
fa(5t  that  every  year  sees  a  larger  number  of  Emperor 
William's  subjedls  intent  on  wresting  trade  from 
the  British.  Frenchmen  and  other  Europeans  pass 
along  this  Queen's  road,  and  the  American  tourist 
is  in  evidence,  intent  on' seeing  all  the  sights  as  well 
as  securing  the  best  bargains  from  the  shopkeepers. 
All  these  foreigners  have  modified  their  garb  to  suit 
the  climate.  They  wear  suits  of  white  linen  or  pon- 
gee with  soft  shirts,  and  the  solar  topi,  or  pith  hel- 
met, which  is  a  necessity  in  summer  and  a  great 
comfort  at  other  seasons.  The  helmet  keeps  the 
head  cool  and  shelters  the  nape  of  the  neck,  which 
cannot  be  exposed  safely  to  the  sun's  rays.  Instead 
of  giving  health  as  the  California  sun  does,  this 
Hongkong  sunshine  brings  heat  apoplexy  and  fever. 
All  the  Orient  is  represented  by  interesting  types. 
Here  are  rich  Chinese  merchants  going  by  in  private 

[67] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

chairs,  with  bearers  in  handsome  silk  livery;  Parsees 
from  Bombay,  with  skins  almost  as  black  as  those 
of  the  American  negro;  natives  of  other  parts  of 
India  in  their  chara6teristic  dress  and  their  varying 
turbans;  Sikh  policemen,  tall,  powerful  men,  who 
have  a  lordly  walk  and  who  beat  and  kick  the  Chi- 
nese chair  coolies  and  rickshaw  men  when  they  prove 
too  insistent  or  rapacious;  Chinese  of  all  classes, 
from  the  prosperous  merchant  to  the  wretched  coolie 
whose  prominent  ribs  show  how  near  he  lives  to 
adual  starvation  in  this  overcrowded  land;  workmen 
of  all  kinds,  many  bearing  their  tools,  and  swarms 
of  peddlers  and  vendors  of  food,  crying  their  wares, 
with  scores  of  children,  many  of  whom  lead  blind 
beggars.  Everywhere  is  the  noise  of  many  people 
shouting  lustily,  the  cries  of  chair  coolies  warning 
the  passersby  to  clear  the  way  for  their  illustrious 
patrons. 

The  Chinese  seem  unable  to  do  anything  without 
an  enormous  expenditure  of  talk  and  noise.  Ordi- 
nary bargaining  looks  like  the  beginning  of  a  fierce 
fight.  Any  trifling  accident  attrads  a  great  crowd, 
which  becomes  excited  at  the  slightest  provocation. 
It  is  easy  to  see  from  an  ordinary  walk  in  this  Hong- 
kong street  how  panic  or  rage  may  convert  the  stolid 
Chinese  into  a  deadly  maniac,  who  will  stop  at  no 
outburst  of  violence,  no  atrocity,  that  will  serve  to 
wreak  his  hatred  of  the  foreigner. 

Although  Hongkong  has  been  Europeanized  in 
Its  main  streets,  there  are  quarters  of  the  city  only  a 
few  blocks  away  from  the  big  hotels  and  banks  which 
give  one  glimpses  of  genuine  native  life.  Some  of 
these  streets  are  reached  by  scores  of  granite  steps  that 
climb  the  steep  mountainside.  These  streets  are  not 
over  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  the  shops  are 
mere  holes  in  the  wall,  with  a  frontage  of  eight  or 

[68] 


Greatest  British  Port  in  Orient 

ten  feet.  Yet  many  of  these  dingy  shops  contain 
thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  decorated  silks  and 
linens,  artistic  carvings,  laces,  curios  and  many  other 
articles  of  Chinese  manufacture.  Unlike  the  Japa- 
nese, who  will  follow  the  tourist  to  the  sidewalk  and 
urge  him  to  buy,  these  Chinese  storekeepers  show 
no  eagerness  to  make  sales.  They  must  be  urged 
to  display  their  fine  goods,  and  they  cannot  be  hur- 
ried. The  best  time  to  see  these  native  streets  is  at 
night.  Take  a  chair  if  the  climate  overpowers  you, 
but  walk  if  you  can.  Then  a  night  stroll  through 
this  teeming  quarter  will  always  remain  in  the  mem- 
ory. Every  one  is  working  hard,  as  in  Japan,  for  the 
Chinese  workday  seems  endless.  All  kinds  of  man- 
ufa<5hire  are  being  carried  on  here  in  these  narrow  lit- 
tle shops;  the  workers  are  generally  stripped  to  the 
waist,  wearing  only  loose  short  trousers  of  cheap  blue 
or  brown  cotton,  the  lamplight  gleaming  on  their 
sweating  bodies.  Here  are  goldsmiths  beating  out 
the  jewelry  for  which  Hongkong  is  famous;  next  are 
scores  of  shops  in  all  of  which  shoes  are  being  made; 
then  follow  workers  in  wiilow-ware  and  rattan,  mak- 
ers of  hats,  furniture  and  hundreds  of  other  articles. 
In  every  block  is  an  eating-house,  with  rows  of  na- 
tives squatted  on  benches,  and  with  large  kettles  full 
of  evil-smelling  messes.  The  crowds  in  the  streets 
vie  with  the  crowds  in  the  stores  in  the  noise  that 
they  make;  the  air  reeks  with  the  odors  of  sweating 
men,  the  smell  of  unsavory  food,  the  stench  of  open 
gutters.  This  panorama  of  naked  bodies,  of  wild- 
eyed  yellow  faces  drawn  with  fatigue  and  heat  passes 
before  ones*  eyes  for  an  hour.  Then  the  senses  begin 
to  reel  and  it  is  time  to  leave  this  scene  of  Oriental 
life  that  is  far  lower  and  more  repulsive  than  the 
most  crowded  streets  in  the  terrible  East  Side  tene- 
ment quarter  of  New  York  on  a  midsummer  night. 

[69] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

Hongkong,  both  in  the  European  and  native 
quarters,  is  built  to  endure  for  centuries.  Most  of 
the  houses  are  of  granite  or  plastered  brick.  The 
streets  are  paved  with  granite  slabs.  Even  the  pri- 
vate residences  have  massive  walls  and  heavy  roofs 
of  red  or  black  tile;  the  gardens  are  screened  from 
the  street  by  high  walls,  with  broken  glass  worked 
into  the  mortar  that  forms  the  coping  and  with  tall 
iron  entrance  gates.  These  residences  dot  the  side  hill 
above  the  town.  They  are  built  upon  terraces,  which 
include  the  family  tennis  court.  The  roads  wind 
around  the  mountainside,  many  of  them  quarried 
out  of  solid  rock.  All  the  building  material  of  these 
houses  had  to  be  carried  up  the  steep  mountainside 
by  coolies  and,  until  the  cable  railway  was  finished, 
the  dwellers  were  borne  to  their  homes  at  night  by 
chair  coolies. 

This  cable  railway  carries  one  nearly  to  the  top 
of  the  peak  back  of  Hongkong,  and  from  the  station 
a  short  walk  brings  one  to  the  summit,  where  a  wire- 
less station  is  used  to  flash  arrivals  of  vessels  to  the 
city  below.  The  view  from  this  summit,  and  from 
the  splendid  winding  road  which  leads  to  the  Peak 
Hospital,  not  far  away,  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
world.  The  harbor,  dotted  with  many  ships  and 
small  boats,  the  indented  coast  for  a  score  of  miles, 
the  bare  and  forbidding  Chinese  territory  across  the 
bay,  the  big  city  at  the  foot  of  the  hill;  all  these  are 
spread  out  below  like  a  great  panorama. 

The  British  are  firmly  entrenched  at  Hongkong. 
Not  only  have  they  adual  ownership  of  Viftoria 
Island,  on  which  Hongkong  is  built,  but  they  have 
a  perpetual  lease  of  a  strip  of  the  mainland  across 
from  the  island,  extending  back  for  over  one  hun- 
dred miles.  The  native  city  across  the  bay  is  Kow- 
loon,  and  is  reached  by  a  short  ride  on  the  new 

[70] 


Greatest  British  Port  in  Orient 

railroad  which  will  eventually  conned  Hankow  with 
Paris.  On  the  barren  shore,  about  a  mile  from  Hong- 
kong, has  been  founded  the  European  settlement  of 
Kowloon  City.  It  comprises  a  row  of  large  ware- 
houses, or  godowns,  a  big  naval  vi(5lualling  station 
and  coaling  depot,  large  barracks  for  two  regiments 
of  Indian  infantry  and  several  companies  of  Indian 
artillery,  with  many  fine  quarters  for  European  offi- 
cers. The  city  in  recent  years  has  become  a  favorite 
residence  place  for  Hongkong  business  men,  as  it  is 
reached  in  a  few  minutes  by  a  good  ferry.  Near  by 
are  the  great  naval  docks  at  Hunghom,  extensive 
cement  works  and  the  deepest  railway  cut  in  the 
world,  the  material  being  used  to  fill  in  the  bay  of 
Hunghom. 


[71] 


A  Visit  to 

Canton  in  Days  of  Wild 

Panic 


EVERY  traveler  who  has  seen  the  Orient  will  tell 
you  not  to  miss  Canton,  the  greatest  business 
center  of  China,  the  most  remarkable  city  of 
the  empire,  and  among  the  most  interesting  cities  of 
the  world.  It  is  only  a  little  over  eighty  miles  from 
Hongkong,  and  if  one  wishes  to  save  time  it  may  be 
reached  by  a  night  boat. 

While  in  Manila  I  heard  very  disturbing  reports 
of  rioting  in  Canton  and  possible  bloodshed  in  the 
contest  between  the  Manchus  in  control  of  the  army 
and  the  revolutionists.  This  rioting  followed  the  as- 
sassination of  the  Tartar  general,  who  was  blown  up, 
with  a  score  of  his  bodyguard,  as  he  was  formally 
entering  the  city  by  the  main  south  gate.  When 
Hongkong  was  reached  these  rumors  of  trouble  be- 
came more  persistent,  and  they  were  given  point 
by  the  arrival  every  day  by  boat  and  train  of  thou- 
sands of  refugees  from  Canton.  Every  day  the  bul- 
letin boards  in  the  Chinese  quarter  contained  dis- 
patches from  Canton,  around  which  a  swarm  of 
excited  coolies  gathered  and  discussed  the  news.  One 
night  came  the  news  that  the  Viceroy  had  acknowl- 
edged the  revolutionists  and  had  agreed  to  surrender 
on  the  following  day.  This  report  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm,  and  hundreds  of  dollars*  worth  of 
firecrackers  were  burned  to  celebrate  the  success  of 
the  new  national  movement. 


[72] 


Canton  in  Days  of  Wild  Panic 

That  night  I  left  Hongkong  on  the  Quong  Si, 
one  of  the  Chinese  boats  that  ply  between  Hong- 
kong and  Canton,  under  the  British  flag.  A  half- 
dozen  American  tourists  were  also  on  the  boat, 
including  several  ladies. 

The  trip  up  the  estuary  of  the  Pearl  river  that 
leads  to  Canton  was  made  without  incident,  and  the 
boat  anchored  in  the  river  opposite  the  Shameen  or 
foreign  concession  early  in  the  morning,  but  the  pas- 
sengers remained  on  board  until  about  eight-thirty 
o'clock.  The  reports  that  came  from  the  shore  were 
not  reassuring.  Guides  who  came  out  in  sampans 
said  that  there  was  only  a  forlorn  hope  of  getting 
into  the  walled  city,  as  nearly  all  the  gates  had  been 
closed  for  two  days.  They  also  brought  the  alarm- 
ing news  that  the  Viceroy  had  reconsidered  his  deci- 
sion of  the  previous  night  and  had  sent  word  that 
he  proposed  to  resist  by  force  any  effort  of  the  revolu- 
tionists to  capture  the  city.  The  flag  of  the  revolu- 
tion had  also  been  hauled  down  and  the  old  familiar 
yellow  dragon-flag  hoisted  in  its  place. 

While  waiting  for  the  guide  to  arrange  for  chairs 
to  take  the  party  through  the  city,  we  had  a  good 
opportunity  to  study  the  river  life  which  makes  Can- 
ton unique  among  Chinese  cities.  Out  of  the  total 
population  of  over  two  millions,  at  least  a  quarter  of 
a  million  live  in  boats  from  birth  to  death  and  know 
no  other  home.  Many  of  these  boats  are  large  cargo 
junks  which  ply  up  and  down  the  river  and  bring 
produce  to  the  great  city  market,  but  the  majority 
are  small  sampans  that  house  one  Chinese  family  and 
that  find  constant  service  in  transferring  passengers 
and  freight  from  one  side  of  the  river  to  the  other, 
as  well  as  to  and  from  the  hundreds  of  steamers  that 
call  at  the  port.  They  have  a  covered  cabin  into 
which  the  family  retires  at  night. 

[73] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

These  sampans  are  mainly  rowed  by  women,  who 
handle  the  boats  with  great  skill.  A  young  girl 
usually  plies  the  short  oar  on  the  bow,  while  her 
mother,  assisted  by  the  younger  children,  works  the 
large  oar  or  sweep  in  the  stern.  The  middle  of  the 
sampan  is  covered  by  a  bamboo  house,  and  in  the 
forward  part  of  this  house  the  family  has  its  kitchen 
fire  and  all  its  arrangements  for  food.  The  passen- 
ger sits  on  the  after  seat  near  the  stern  of  the  boat. 
These  boats  are  scrubbed  so  that  the  woodwork 
shines,  and  the  backs  of  the  seats  are  covered  with 
fresh  matting. 

Looking  out  from  the  steamer  one  saw  at  least 
two  miles  of  these  small  sampans  and  larger  craft 
massed  along  both  shores  of  the  river,  which  is  here 
about  a  half-mile  wide.  The  foreign  concession  or 
Shameen  is  free  from  these  boats.  It  is  really  a  sand 
spit,  surrounded  by  water,  which  was  made  over  to 
the  foreigners  after  the  opium  war. 

North  of  the  Shameen  is  the  new  western  sub- 
urb of  Canton,  which  has  recently  been  completed 
on  European  lines.  It  has  a  handsome  bund,  finely 
paved,  with  substantial  buildings  facing  the  river. 
Close  up  against  this  bund,  and  extending  down  the 
river  bank  for  at  least  two  miles  are  ranged  row  on 
row  of  houseboats.  Every  few  minutes  a  boat  darts 
out  from  the  mass  and  is  pulled  to  one  of  the  ships 
in  the  stream. 

Across  the  river  and  massed  against  the  shore  of 
Honam,  the  suburb  opposite  Canton,  is  another  tan- 
gle of  sampans,  with  thousands  of  adlive  river  folk, 
all  shouting  and  screaming.  These  yellow  thousands 
toiling  from  break  of  day  to  late  at  night  do  not 
seem  human;  yet  each  boat  has  its  family  life.  The 
younger  children  are  tied  so  that  they  cannot  fall 
overboard,  and  the  older  ones  wear  ingenious  floats 

[74] 


f 


<:«3  ^  |.  s-  g^  a, 
i  ^?  o  tJ  3  w 


Canton  in  Days  of  Wild  Panic 
which  will  buoy  them  up  should  they  tumble  into 
the  water.  Boys  and  girls  four  or  five  years  old 
assist  in  the  working  of  the  boat,  while  girls  of  twelve 
or  fourteen  are  experts  in  handling  the  oar  and  in 
using  the  long  bamboo  boat  hook  that  serves  to 
carry  the  small  craft  out  of  the  tangle  of  river  activity. 

A  type  of  river  steamer  which  will  amaze  the  Am- 
erican is  an  old  stern-wheeler  run  by  man  power.  It 
is  provided  with  a  treadmill  just  forward  of  the  big 
stern  wheel.  Two  or  three  tiers  of  naked,  perspiring 
coolies  are  working  this  treadmill,  all  moving  with 
the  accuracy  and  precision  of  machinery.  The  irrev- 
erent foreigner  calls  these  the  "hotfoot"  boats,  and 
in  the  land  where  a  coolie  may  be  hired  all  day  for 
forty  cents  Mexican  or  twenty  cents  in  our  coin  this 
human  power  is  far  cheaper  than  soft  coal  at  five 
dollars  a  ton.  These  boats  carry  freight  and  pas- 
sengers and  they  move  along  at  a  lively  pace. 

After  an  hour  spent  in  study  of  this  strange  river 
life  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  go  ashore  with  an 
American  missionary  whose  husband  was  connedled 
with  a  large  college  across  the  river  from  Canton. 
She  came  aboard  in  a  sampan  to  take  ashore  two 
ladies  from  Los  Angeles.  She  invited  me  to  accom- 
pany the  party,  and  as  she  spoke  Chinese  fluently 
I  was  glad  to  accept  her  offer.  We  went  ashore 
in  a  sampan  and  at  once  proceeded  to  visit  the  west- 
ern suburb.  This  part  of  Canton  has  been  built  in 
recent  years  and  is  somewhat  cleaner  than  the  old 
town.  It  is  separated  from  the  Shameen  by  bridges 
which  may  be  drawn  up  like  an  ancient  portcullis. 
Here  we  at  once  plunged  into  the  thick  of  native 
life.  The  streets,  not  over  ten  feet  wide,  were  crowded 
with  people. 

We  passed  through  streets  devoted  wholly  to 
markets  and  restt!urants,and  thespedacle  was  enough 

[7S] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

to  keep  one  from  ever  indulging  hereafter  in  chop- 
suey.  Here  were  tables  spread  with  the  intestines 
of  various  animals,  pork  in  every  form,  chickens  and 
ducks,  roasted  and  covered  with  some  preparation 
that  made  them  look  as  though  just  varnished.  Here 
were  many  strange  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  here, 
hung  against  the  wall,  were  row  on  row  of  dried  rats. 
At  a  neighboring  stall  were  several  small,  flat  tubs, 
in  which  live  fish  swam  about,  waiting  for  a  customer 
to  order  them  knocked  on  the  head.  Then  we  passed 
into  a  street  of  curio  shops,  but  the  grill  work  in 
front  was  closed  and  behind  could  be  seen  the  timid 
proprietors,  who  evidently  did  not  mean  to  take  any 
chances  of  having  their  stores  looted  by  robbers. 
For  three  or  four  days  the  most  valuable  goods  in 
all  the  Canton  stores  had  been  removed  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Thousands  of  bales  of  silk  and  tons  of 
rare  curios  were  already  safe  in  the  foreign  ware- 
houses at  the  Shameen  or  had  been  carried  down  the 
river  to  Hongkong.  Often  we  had  to  flatten  our- 
selves against  the  sides  of  the  street  to  give  passage 
to  chairs  containing  high-class  Chinese  and  their  fam- 
ilies, followed  by  coolies  bearing  the  most  valuable 
of  their  possessions  packed  in  cedar  chests. 

At  an  American  hospital  we  were  met  by  several 
young  Englishmen  connefted  with  medical  and 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  work.  They 
proposed  a  trip  through  the  old  walled  city,  but  they 
refused  to  take  the  two  ladies,  as  they  said  it  would 
be  dangerous  in  the  excited  condition  of  the  peo- 
ple. So  we  set  out,  five  in  number.  After  a  short 
walk  we  reached  one  of  the  gates  of  the  walled  city, 
only  to  find  it  closed  and  locked.  A  short  walk 
brought  us  to  a  second  gate,  which  was  opened  read- 
ily by  the  Chinese  guards,  armed  with  a  new  type 
of  German  army  rifle.    The  walls  of  the  old  city 

[76] 


Canton  in  Days  of  Wild  Panic 

were  fully  ten  feet  thick  where  we  entered,  and  about 
twenty  feet  high,  made  of  large  slabs  of  granite. 

Once  inside  the  city  walls  a  great  surprise  awaited 
us.  Instead  of  crowded  streets  and  the  hum  of  trade 
were  deserted  streets,  closed  shops  and  absolute  des- 
olation. For  blocks  the  only  persons  seen  were  sol- 
diers and  refugees  making  their  way  to  the  gates.  In 
one  fine  residence  quarter  an  occasional  woman 
peered  through  the  front  gates;  in  other  seftions  all 
the  houses  were  closed  and  barred.  Soon  we  reached 
the  Buddhist  temple,  known  as  the  Temple  of  Hor- 
rors. Around  the  central  courtyard  are  grouped  a 
series  of  booths,  in  each  of  which  are  wooden  figures 
representing  the  torture  of  those  who  commit  deadly 
sins.  In  one  booth  a  vidim  is  being  sawed  in  two; 
in  others  poor  wretches  are  being  garroted,  boiled  in 
oil,  broken  on  the  wheel  and  subjected  to  many  other 
ingenious  tortures.  At  one  end  is  an  elaborate  joss- 
house,  with  a  great  bronze  bell  near  by.  In  normal 
conditions  this  temple  is  crowded,  and  true  believers 
buy  slips  of  prayers,  which  they  throw  into  the  booths 
to  ward  off  ill  luck. 

The  rush  of  refugees  grew  greater  as  we  pene- 
trated toward  the  heart  of  the  city.  On  the  main 
curio  street  the  huge  gilded  signs  hung  as  if  in 
mockery  above  shops  which  had  been  stripped  of  all 
their  treasures.  Occasionally  a  restaurant  remained 
open  and  these  were  crowded  with  chair  coolies,  who 
were  waiting  to  be  engaged  by  some  merchant  eager 
to  escape  from  the  city.  Gone  was  all  the  life  and 
bustle  that  my  companions  said  made  this  the  most 
remarkable  street  in  Canton.  It  was  like  walking 
through  a  city  of  the  dead,  and  it  bore  a  striking 
resemblance  to  San  Francisco's  business  distridl  on 
the  day  of  the  great  fire.  At  intervals  we  passed  the 
yamens  of  magistrates,  but  the  guards  and  attaches 

[77] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

were  enjoying  a  vacation,  as  no  court  proceedings 
were  held.  Progress  became  more  and  more  difficult 
as  the  rush  of  refugees  increased  and  returning  chair 
coolies  clamored  for  passageway.  The  latter  had 
taken  parties  to  the  river  boats  and  were  coming 
back  for  more  passengers.  As  it  became  evident  that 
we  could  not  see  the  normal  life  of  the  city,  my  com- 
panions finally  urged  that  we  return,  as  they  feared 
the  gates  might  be  closed  against  us,  so  we  retraced 
our  way,  this  time  taking  the  main  street  which  led 
to  the  great  south  gate. 

Not  far  from  the  gate  we  came  on  the  scene  of 
the  blowing  up  of  the  Tartar  general.  Seven  shops 
on  both  sides  of  the  street  were  wrecked  by  the 
explosion.  The  heavy  fronts  were  partly  intad, 
but  the  interiors  were  a  mass  of  brick  and  charred 
timbers,  for  fire  followed  the  explosion.  The  general 
had  waited  several  months  to  allow  the  political  ex- 
citement that  followed  his  appointment  to  subside. 
He  felt  safe  in  entering  the  city  with  a  strong  body- 
guard, but  not  over  one  hundred  yards  from  the 
gate  a  bomb  was  thrown  which  killed  the  general 
instantly,  mangled  a  score  of  his  retainers  and  killed 
over  a  dozen  Chinese  bystanders.  The  revolution- 
ists tried  to  clear  the  street  so  that  none  of  their  own 
people  should  suffer,  but  they  failed  because  of  the 
curiosity  of  the  crowd. 

Near  by  this  place  is  the  old  Buddhist  water 
clock,  which  for  five  hundred  years  has  marked  the 
time  by  the  drip  of  water  from  a  hidden  spring.  The 
masonry  of  this  water-clock  building  looks  very  an- 
cient, and  the  clock  is  reached  by  several  long  flights 
of  granite  stairs. 

After  viewing  the  clock  we  reached  the  wall  and 
passed  through  the  big  south  gates,  which  are  fully 
six  inches  thick,  of  massive  iron,  studded  with  large 

[78] 


Canton  in  Days  of  Wild  Panic 

nails.  Outside  on  the  bund  were  drawn  up  several 
rapid-fire  guns  belonging  to  Admiral  Li,  the  efficient 
head  of  the  Chinese  navy  at  Canton,  who  also  had  a 
score  of  trim  little  gunboats  patrolling  the  river. 
These  boats  had  rapid-fire  guns  at  bow  and  stern. 
So  we  came  back  to  the  Canton  hospital,  where 
we  had  luncheon.  After  this  I  made  my  way  back 
to  the  steamer,  to  find  her  crowded  with  over  one 
thousand  refugees  from  the  old  city,  with  their  be- 
longings. The  decks  and  even  the  dining  saloon 
were  choked  with  these  people,  and  during  the  two 
hours  before  the  boat  sailed  at  least  three  hundred 
more  passengers  were  taken  on  board.  We  sailed  in 
the  late  afternoon  and  were  followed  by  four  other 
river  steamers,  carrying  in  all  over  six  thousand 
refugees. 


[79] 


Singapore 

The  Meeting  Place  of 

Many  Races 


OF  all  the  places  in  the  Orient,  the  most  cos- 
mopolitan is  Singapore,  the  gateway  to  the 
Far  East;  the  one  city  which  everyone  en- 
circling the  globe  is  forced  to  visit,  at  least  for  a  day. 
Hongkong  streets  may  have  seemed  to  present  an 
unparalleled  mixture  of  races;  Canton's  narrow  alleys 
may  have  appeared  strange  and  exotic;  but  Singa- 
pore surpasses  Honkong  in  the  number  and  pidtur- 
esqueness  of  the  races  represented  in  its  streets,  as 
it  easily  surpasses  Canton  in  strange  sights  and  in 
swarming  toilers  from  many  lands  that  fill  the  boats 
on  its  canals  and  the  narrow,  crooked  streets  that  at 
night  glow  with  light  and  resound  with  the  clamor 
of  alien  tongues. 

Singapore  is  built  on  an  island  which  adjoins  the 
extreme  end  of  the  Malay  Peninsula.  It  is  about 
sixty  miles  from  the  equator,  and  it  has  a  climate 
that  varies  only  a  few  degrees  from  seventy  during 
the  entire  year.  This  heat  would  not  be  debilitating 
were  it  not  for  the  extreme  humidity  of  the  atmos- 
phere. To  a  stranger,  especially  if  he  comes  from 
the  Pacific  Coast,  the  place  seems  like  a  Turkish 
bath.  The  slightest  physical  exertion  makes  the 
perspiration  stand  out  in  beads  on  the  face. 

Singapore  has  a  population  of  over  three  hun- 
dred thousand  people;  it  has  a  great  commercial 
business,  which  is  growing  every  year;  it  already  has 


[80] 


The  Meeting  Place  of  Many  Races 

the  largest  dry  dock  in  the  world.  Its  bund  is  not 
so  imposing  as  that  of  Hongkong,  but  it  has  more 
public  squares  and  its  government  buildings  are  far 
more  handsome.  As  Hongkong  owes  much  of  its 
splendid  architedure  and  its  air  of  stability  to  Sir 
Paul  Chator,  so  Singapore  owes  its  spacious  ave- 
nues, its  fine  buildings,  its  many  parks,  its  interest- 
ing museum  and  its  famous  botanical  gardens  to  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles,  one  of  the  British  empire-builders 
who  have  left  indelibly  impressed  on  the  Orient 
their  genius  for  founding  cities  and  construding  great 
public  enterprises.  Yet,  Singapore,  with  far  more 
business  than  Manila,  is  destitute  of  a  proper  sewer 
system,  and  the  streets  in  its  native  quarters  reek 
with  foul  odors. 

The  feature  of  Singapore  that  first  impresses  the 
stranger  is  the  variety  of  races  seen  in  any  of  the 
streets,  and  this  continues  to  impress  him  so  long  as 
he  remains  in  the  city.  My  stay  in  Singapore  was 
four  days,  due  to  the  fad  that  it  was  necessary  to 
wait  here  for  the  departure  of  the  British  West  In- 
dia Company's  steamer  for  Rangoon  and  Calcutta. 
In  jinrikishas  and  pony  carts  I  saw  all  quarters  of 
the  town,  and  my  wonder  grew  every  day  at  the  re- 
markable show  of  costumes  presented  by  the  differ- 
ent races.  One  day,  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  sat  down 
on  a  coping  of  the  wall  that  surrounds  a  pretty  park 
on  Orchard  road,  and  in  the  space  of  a  half  hour 
watched  the  moving  show  that  passed  by.  At  this 
hour  all  Singapore  takes  its  outing  to  the  Botanical 
Gardens,  and  one  may  study  the  people  who  have 
leisure  and  money. 

The  favorite  rig  is  still  the  vidoria  drawn  by 
high-stepping  horses,  with  coachman  and  postilion, 
but  the  automobile  is  evidently  making  rapid  strides 
in  popular  favor,  despite  the  fad:  that  the  heavy,  hu- 

[8,] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

mid  air  makes  the  odor  of  gasoline  cling  to  the  road- 
way. A  high-class  Arab,  with  his  keen,  intelledhial 
face,  rides  by  with  a  bright  Malay  driving  the  ma- 
chine. Then  comes  a  fat  and  prosperous-looking 
Parsee  in  his  carriage,  followed  by  a  rich  Chinese 
merchant  arrayed  in  spotless  white,  seated  in  a  motor 
car,  his  family  about  him,  and  some  relative  or  ser- 
vant at  the  wheel.  Along  moves  a  rickshaw  with  an 
East  Indian  woman,  the  sun  flashing  on  the  heavy 
gold  rings  in  her  ears,  while  a  carriage  follows  with 
a  pretty  blonde  girl  with  golden  hair,  seated  beside 
her  Chinese  ayah,  or  nurse.  A  score  of  young  Brit- 
ons come  next  in  rickshaws,  some  carrying  tennis 
racquets,  and  others  reading  books  or  the  afternoon 
paper.  The  rickshaws  here,  unlike  those  of  Japan 
or  China,  carry  two  people.  They  are  pulled  by 
husky  Chinese  coolies,  who  have  as  remarkable  devel- 
opment of  the  leg  muscles  as  their  Japanese  brothers, 
with  far  better  chests.  In  fadl,  the  average  Chinese 
rickshaw  coolie  of  Singapore  is  a  fine  physical  type, 
and  he  will  draw  for  hours  with  little  show  of  suf- 
fering a  rickshaw  containing  two  people.  The  pony 
cart  of  Singapore  is  another  unique  institution.  It 
is  a  four-wheeled  cart,  seating  four  people,  drawn  by 
a  pony  no  larger  than  the  average  Shetland.  The 
driver  sits  on  a  little  box  in  front,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  wagon  is  a  basket  in  which  rests  the  pony's  al- 
lowance of  green  grass  for  the  day.  The  pony  cart 
is  popular  with  parties  of  three  or  four  and,  as  most 
of  Singapore's  streets  are  level,  the  burden  on  the 
animal  is  not  severe. 

This  moving  procession  of  the  races  goes  on  until 
eleven-thirty  o'clock,  the  popular  dinner  hour  all 
along  the  Chinese  coast.  It  is  varied  by  the  occa- 
sional appearance  of  a  bullock  cart,  which  has  prob- 
ably changed  very  little  in  hundreds  of  years.   The 

[82] 


The  Meeting  Place  of  Many  Races 

bullocks  have  a  pronounced  hump  at  the  shoulders, 
and  are  of  the  color  and  size  of  a  Jersey  cow.  The 
neckyoke  is  a  mere  bar  of  wood  fastened  to  the  pole, 
and  the  cart  is  heavy  and  ungainly.  Nowhere  in 
Singapore  does  one  find  coolies  straining  at  huge 
loads  as  in  China  and  Japan,  as  this  labor  is  given 
over  to  bullocks.  Here,  however,  both  men  and 
women  carry  heavy  burdens  on  their  heads,  while 
the  Chinese  use  the  pole  and  baskets,  so  familiar  to 
all  Californians. 

The  Malays  and  East  Indians  furnish  the  most 
picturesque  feature  of  all  street  crowds.  The  Malays, 
dark  of  skin,  with  keen  faces,  wear  the  sarong,  a  skirt 
of  bright-colored  silk  or  cotton  wrapped  about  the 
loins  and  falling  almost  to  the  shoe.  The  sarong  is 
scant  and  reminds  one  strongly  of  the  hobble-skirt, 
as  no  Malay  is  able  to  take  a  full  stride  in  it.  The 
skirt  and  jacket  of  the  Malay  may  vary,  but  the 
sarong  is  always  of  the  same  style,  and  the  brighter 
the  color  the  more  it  seems  to  please  the  wearer. 
The  East  Indians  are  of  many  kinds.  The  Sikhs, 
who  are  the  police  of  Hongkong,  here  share  such 
duty  with  Tamils  from  southern  India  and  some 
Chinese. 

No  Malay  is  ever  seen  in  any  low,  menial  em- 
ployment. The  Malay  is  well  represented  on  the 
eledlric  cars,  where  he  serves  usually  as  conductor 
and  sometimes  as  motorman.  He  is  also  an  expert 
boatman  and  fisherman.  He  is  very  proud  and  is 
said  to  be  extremely  loyal  to  foreigners  who  treat 
him  with  justice  and  consideration.  The  Malay, 
however,  can  not  be  depended  on  for  labor  on  the 
rubber  or  cocoanut  plantations,  as  he  will  not  work 
unless  he  can  make  considerable  money.  Ordinary 
wages  do  not  appeal  to  a  man  in  a  country  where 
eight  cents  is  the  cost  of  maintenance  on  rice  and 

[83] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

fish,  with  plenty  of  tea.  The  Malay  is  a  gentleman, 
even  when  in  reduced  circumstances,  and  he  must  be 
treated  with  consideration  that  would  be  lost  or 
wasted  on  the  ordinary  Chinese. 

The  Chinese  occupy  a  peculiar  position  in  Sing- 
apore. It  is  the  only  British  crown  colony  in  which 
the  Chinese  is  accorded  any  equality  with  white  men. 
Here  in  the  early  days  the  Chinese  were  welcomed 
not  only  for  their  ability  to  do  rough  pioneer  work, 
but  because  of  their  commercial  ability.  From  the 
outset  they  have  controlled  the  trade  with  their  coun- 
trymen in  the  Malayan  States,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  have  handled  all  the  produce  raised  by 
Chinese.  They  have  never  done  much  in  the  export 
trade,  nor  have  they  proved  successful  in  carrying 
on  the  steamship  business,  because  they  can  not  be 
taught  the  value  of  keeping  vessels  in  fine  condition 
and  of  catering  to  the  tastes  of  the  foreign  traveling 
public.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great  Chinese  mer- 
chants of  Singapore  have  amassed  large  fortunes  and 
have  built  homes  which  surpass  those  of  rich  Euro- 
peans. On  Orchard  road,  which  leads  to  the  Botan- 
ical Gardens,  are  several  Chinese  residences  which 
excite  the  traveler's  wonder,  because  of  the  beauty 
of  the  buildings  and  grounds  and  the  lavishness  of 
ornament  and  decorations.  These  merchants,  whose 
names  are  known  throughout  the  Malay  States  and 
as  far  as  Hongkong  and  Manila,  represent  the  Chi- 
nese at  his  best,  freed  from  all  restridions  and  per- 
mitted to  give  his  commercial  genius  full  play. 


[84] 


Strange  Night 

Scenes  in  the  City  of 

Singapore 


THE  Chinese  element  in  Singapore  is  so  over- 
whelming that  it  arrests  the  attention  of  the 
most  careless  tourist,  but  no  one  appreciates 
the  enormous  number  of  the  Mongolians  in  Singa- 
pore until  he  visits  the  Chinese  and  Malay  districts 
at  night.  With  a  friend  I  started  out  one  night  about 
eight  o'clock.  It  was  the  first  night  in  Singapore 
that  one  could  walk  with  any  comfort.  We  went 
down  North  Bridge  road,  one  of  the  main  avenues 
on  which  an  eledric  car  line  runs.  After  walking  a 
half-mile  we  struck  off  to  the  right  where  the  lights 
were  bright.  Just  as  soon  as  we  left  the  main  avenue 
we  began  to  see  life  as  it  is  in  Singapore  after  dark. 
The  first  native  street  was  devoted  to  small  hawkers, 
who  lined  both  sides  of  the  narrow  thoroughfare. 
Each  had  about  six  feet  of  space,  and  each  had  his 
name  and  his  number  as  a  licensed  vender.  The 
goods  were  of  every  description  and  of  the  cheapest 
quality.  They  had  been  brought  in  small  boxes,  and 
on  these  sat  the  Chinese  merchant  and  frequently 
his  wife  and  children.  A  flare  or  two  from  cheap  nut 
oil  illuminated  the  scene. 

Passing  in  front  of  these  stands  was  a  constantly 
moving  crowd  of  Chinese,  Malays  and  East  Indians 
of  many  races,  all  chaffering  and  talking  at  the  top 
of  their  voices.  At  frequent  intervals  were  street  tea 
counters,  where  food  was  sold,  evidently  at  very  low 

[8  s] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

prices.  Ranged  along  on  benches  were  men  eating 
rice  and  various  stews  that  were  taken  piping  hot 
from  kettles  resting  on  charcoal  stoves.  One  old 
Chinese  woman  had  a  very  condensed  cooking  appa- 
ratus. Over  two  small  braziers  she  had  two  copper 
pots,  each  divided  into  four  compartments  and  in 
each  of  these  different  food  was  cooking. 

Back  of  the  street  peddlers  were  the  regular 
stores,  all  of  which  were  open  and  apparently  doing 
a  good  business.  As  in  Hongkong,  the  Chinese 
workmen  labor  until  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  at  night, 
even  carpenters  and  basket-makers  working  a  full 
force  by  the  light  of  gas  or  ele<5tricity.  The  recent 
events  in  China  had  their  reflex  here.  All  the  mak- 
ers of  shirts  and  clothing  were  feverishly  busy  cut- 
ting up  and  sewing  the  new  flag  of  the  revolution. 
Long  lines  of  red  and  blue  bunting  ran  up  and  down 
these  rooms,  and  each  workman  was  driving  his 
machine  like  mad,  turning  out  a  flag  every  few  min- 
utes. The  fronts  of  most  of  these  stores  were  deco- 
rated with  flags  of  the  revolution. 

The  most  conspicuous  places  of  business  on  these 
streets  were  the  large  restaurants,  where  hundreds 
of  Chinese  were  eating  their  chow  at  small  tables. 
The  din  was  terrific,  and  the  lights  flashing  on  the 
naked  yellow  skins,  wet  with  perspiration,  made  a 
strange  spedacle.  Next  to  these  eating  houses  in 
number  were  handsomely  decorated  places  in  which 
Chinese  women  plied  the  most  ancient  trade  known 
to  history.  Some  of  these  women  were  very  comely, 
but  few  were  finely  dressed,  as  in  this  quarter  cheap- 
ness seemed  to  be  the  rule  in  everything.  Around 
some  of  these  places  crowds  of  Chinese  gathered  and 
exchanged  comment  apparently  on  attradive  new 
arrivals  in  these  resorts  of  vice.  Many  of  the  inmates 
were  young  girls,  fourteen  or  sixteen  years  old. 

[86] 


Strange  Night  Scenes  in  Singapore 

Less  numerous  than  these  houses  were  the  opium 
dens,  scattered  throughout  all  these  streets.  These 
haunts  of  the  drug  that  enslaves  were  long  and  nar- 
row rooms,  with  a  central  passage  and  a  long,  low 
platform  on  each  side.  This  platform  was  made  of 
fine  hardwood,  and  by  constant  use  shone  like  old 
mahogany.  Ranged  along  on  these  platforms  wide 
enough  for  two  men,  facing  each  other  and  using 
a  common  lamp,  were  scores  of  opium  smokers.  As 
many  as  fifty  men  could  be  accommodated  in  each  of 
these  large  establishments.  The  opium  was  served 
as  a  sticky  mass,  and  each  man  rolled  some  of  it  on 
a  metal  pin  and  cooked  it  over  the  lamp.  When 
cooked,  the  ball  of  opium  was  thrust  into  a  small 
hole  in  the  bamboo  opium  pipe.  Then  the  smoker, 
lying  on  his  side,  drew  the  flame  of  the  lamp  against 
this  opium  and  the  smoke  came  up  through  the 
bamboo  tube  of  the  pipe  and  was  inhaled.  One 
cooking  of  opium  makes  never  more  than  three 
whiffs  of  the  pipe,  sometimes  only  two.  The  effe<5t 
on  the  novice  is  very  exhilarating,  but  the  seasoned 
smoker  is  forced  to  consume  more  and  more  of  the 
drug  to  secure  the  desired  effed:.  In  one  of  these 
dens  we  watched  a  large  Chinese  prepare  his  opium. 
He  took  only  two  whiffs,  but  the  second  one  was  so 
deep  that  the  smoke  made  the  tears  run  out  of  his 
eyes.  His  companion  was  so  far  under  the  influence 
of  the  drug  that  his  eyes  were  glazed  and  he  was 
staring  at  some  vision  called  up  by  the  powerful 
narcotic.  One  old  Chinese,  seeing  our  interest  in 
the  spedacle,  shook  his  head  and  said:  "Opium  very 
bad  for  Chinaman;  make  him  poor;  make  him 
weak."  Further  along  in  this  quarter  we  came  upon 
several  huge  Chinese  restaurants,  ablaze  with  light 
and  noisy  with  music.  We  were  told  that  dinners 
were  being  given  in  honor  of  revolutionist  vidories. 

[87] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

In  all  our  night  ramble  through  the  Chinese  and 
Malay  quarters  of  Singapore  we  saw  not  a  single 
European,  yet  we  met  only  courteous  treatment 
everywhere,  and  our  curiosity  was  taken  as  a  com- 
pliment. Singapore  is  well  policed  by  various  races, 
among  which  the  Sikhs  and  Bengali  predominate. 
An  occasional  Malay  is  met  adling  as  a  police  officer, 
but  it  is  evident  that  such  work  does  not  appeal  to 
the  native  of  the  Straits  Settlements. 

On  our  return  to  the  hotel  we  crossed  a  large 
estuary  which  is  spanned  by  several  bridges.  Here 
were  hundreds  of  small  boats  moored  to  the  shore, 
the  homes  of  thousands  of  river  people.  This  busi- 
ness of  transportation  on  the  water  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  Malays,  who  are  most  expert  boatmen.  It  is 
a  pleasure  to  watch  one  of  these  men  handle  a  huge 
cargo  boat.  With  his  large  oar  he  will  scull  rapidly, 
while  his  assistant  uses  a  long  pole. 

One  of  the  sights  of  Singapore  is  the  Botanical 
Gardens,  about  three  and  one-half  miles  from  town. 
The  route  is  along  Orchard  road  and  Tanglin  road, 
two  beautiful  avenues  that  are  lined  with  comfortable 
bungalows  of  Europeans,  and  magnificent  mansions 
of  Chinese  millionaires.  The  gardens  occupy  a  com- 
manding position  overlooking  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, and  they  have  been  laid  out  with  much  skill. 
The  drives  are  bordered  with  ornamental  trees  from 
all  lands.  The  most  beautiful  of  all  the  palms  is  the 
Traveler's  tree  from  Madagascar.  It  is  a  palm  the 
fronds  of  which  grow  up  like  a  regular  fan.  At  a 
little  distance  it  looks  like  a  peacock's  tail  spread 
to  the  full  extent.  It  is  so  light,  graceful  and  feath- 
ery that  it  satisfies  the  eye  as  no  other  palm  does. 
Of  other  palms  there  are  legion,  from  the  Mountain 
Cabbage  palm  of  the  West  Indies  to  endless  varie- 
ties from  Malay,  Madagascar  and  western  Africa. 

[88] 


Characteristic 

Sights  in  Burma's  Largest 

City 


ONE  of  the  charafteristic  sights  of  Rangoon  is 
that  of  the  big  Siamese  elephants  piling  teak 
in  the  lumber  yards  along  Rangoon  river. 
It  is  the  same  sight  that  Kipling  pidhired  in  the  lines 
in  his  perfed  ballad,  Mandalay,  which  an  English- 
man who  knows  his  Burma  well  says  is  "the  finest 
ballad  in  the  world,  with  all  the  local  color  wrong." 

These  lumber  yards  are  strung  along  the  river, 
but  are  easily  reached  by  an  eledlric  car.  Several 
are  conduced  by  Chinese,  but  the  finest  yard  is  in 
charge  of  the  government.  At  the  first  Chinese  yard 
was  the  largest  elephant  in  the  city,  a  huge  animal 
fifty-five  years  old,  with  great  tusks  admirably  fitted 
for  lifting  large  logs.  A  dozen  tourists  were  grouped 
about  the  yard  in  the  early  morning,  for  these  ele- 
phants are  only  worked  in  the  morning  and  evening 
hours,  when  it  is  cool.  An  East  Indian  coolie  was 
mounted  on  his  back,  or  rather  just  back  of  his  ears, 
with  his  legs  dangling  loose.  With  his  naked  feet 
he  indicated  whether  the  elephant  was  to  go  to  the 
right  or  left,  and  when  he  wished  to  emphasize  an 
order  he  hit  the  beast  a  blow  upon  the  head  with  a 
heavy  steel  rod. 

Much  of  the  work  which  this  elephant  did  was 
spedacular,  as  it  showed  the  enormous  strength  of 
the  animal  as  well  as  his  great  intelligence.  He  took 
up  on  his  tusks  a  log  of  teak,  the  native  wood  of  this 

[89] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

country,  as  hard  as  hickory  and  much  heavier,  and, 
with  the  aid  of  his  trunk,  stood  with  it  at  attention 
until  every  camera  fiend  had  taken  his  pidure.  Then 
his  driver  made  the  huge  beast  move  a  large  log  of 
teak  from  a  muddy  hole  by  sheer  force  of  the  head 
and  neck.  The  animal  dropped  almost  to  his  knees, 
and  then  putting  forth  all  his  strength  he  actually 
pushed  the  log,  which  weighed  about  a  ton  and  one- 
half,  through  the  mud  up  to  the  gangplank  of  the 
saw.  Then  he  piled  several  huge  logs  one  upon  the 
other,  to  show  his  skill  in  this  work. 

Leaving  this  yard  the  party  walked  about  a  half- 
mile  through  trails,  with  marshy  land  on  each  side, 
to  the  big  government  timber  yard.  Here  were 
thousands  of  logs  which  had  been  cut  far  up  in  the 
teak  forests  of  the  interior,  dragged  through  the 
swamps  of  the  Irrawaddy  by  elephants,  then  floated 
down  the  great  river  to  Rangoon.  All  the  logs  in 
this  yard  were  marked  with  a  red  cross  to  signify  that 
they  belonged  to  the  government.  Down  by  the 
river  shore,  where  the  ground  was  so  soft  that  their 
feet  sank  deep  into  the  slimy  mud,  were  five  ele- 
phants engaged  in  hauling  logs  up  from  the  river 
to  the  dry  ground  near  the  shore. 

The  chief  objed:  of  interest  in  Rangoon  is  the 
great  Shwe  Dagon  pagoda,  which  dominates  the 
whole  city.  Its  golden  summit  may  be  seen  for  many 
miles  gleaming  above  dull  green  masses  of  foliage. 
This  pagoda  is  the  center  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  as 
it  is  said  to  contain  veritable  relics  of  Gautama  as 
well  as  of  the  three  Buddhas  who  came  before  him. 
Thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  Burmah, 
Siam,  Cochin-China,  Korea,  Ceylon  and  other  Ori- 
ental countries  visit  the  pagoda  every  year  and  their 
offerings  at  the  various  shrines  amount  to  millions 
of  dollars.  The  pagoda  differs  absolutely  from  the 

[9°] 


CALIFCRNIA  uuuucws 
IN  CHINA 

Sights  in  Burma's  Largest  City 

temples  of  Japan  and  China  in  form,  material  and 
the  arrangement  of  lesser  shrines;  but  its  impressive- 
ness  is  greatly  injured  by  the  presence  of  hundreds 
of  hucksters,  who  sell  not  only  curios  and  souvenirs 
of  the  pagoda,  but  food  and  drink. 

The  pagoda,  which  is  about  two  miles  from  the 
business  center  of  Rangoon,  is  built  upon  a  mound. 
The  circumference  is  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty-five 
feet  and  the  total  height  from  the  base  is  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy  feet.  It  is  constructed  in  circular 
style,  its  concentric  rings  gradually  lessening  in  size 
until  the  top  is  reached.  This  is  surmounted  by  a 
gilt  iron  work  or"ti"  on  which  little  bells  are  hung. 
This  "ti"  was  a  gift  from  the  late  king  of  Burmah, 
who  spent  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  on  its  dec- 
oration with  gold  and  precious  stones.  The  mound 
on  which  the  pagoda  stands  is  divided  into  two  rect- 
angular terraces.  The  upper  terrace,  nine  hundred 
feet  by  six  hundred  and  eighty-five,  is  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ground.  The 
ascent  is  by  three  flights  of  brick  stairs,  the  fourth 
flight  at  the  back  being  closed  to  permit  of  the  build- 
ing of  fortifications  by  which  the  English  may  defend 
the  pagoda  in  any  emergency.  The  southern  or  main 
entrance  is  made  conspicuous  by  two  enormous  leo- 
gryphs,  which  are  of  plastered  brick. 

Up  these  steep  stairs  the  visitor  climbs,  pestered 
by  loathsome  beggars  and  importuned  on  every  hand 
to  buy  relics,  flowers  and  articles  of  gold  and  silver. 
One  would  fancy  he  was  in  a  great  bazar  rather  than 
in  the  entrance  hall  of  the  finest  monument  in  the 
world  eredled  in  honor  of  Buddha.  The  four  chap- 
els ranged  around  the  rectangular  terrace  are  orna- 
mented by  figures  of  the  sitting  Buddha.  Then  one 
visits  a  score  of  magnificently  decorated  shrines,  in 
which  are  Buddhas  in  every  variety  of  position.  In 

[91] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

one  is  the  reclining  Gautama  in  alabaster,  in  whose 
honor  the  pagoda  was  built.  In  others  are  Gautamas 
of  brass,  ivory,  glass,  clay  and  wood.  Before  many 
of  these  shrines  candles  are  burning  and  devotees 
are  seated  or  are  praying  with  their  faces  bowed  to 
the  stone  pavement.  On  one  side  of  the  platform  is 
a  row  of  miniature  pagodas,  all  encrusted  with  dec- 
oration of  gold  and  precious  stones,  the  gifts  of  thou- 
sands of  pious  devotees.  Among  these  shrines  are 
many  small  bells  which  are  rung  by  worshippers 
when  they  deposit  their  offerings,  and  one  great  bell 
(the  third  largest  in  the  world,weighing  forty-two  and 
one-fourth  tons),  given  by  King  Tharrawaddy. 

The  eyes  of  the  visitor  are  wearied  with  the 
splendid  decoration  of  the  chapels,  the  gilding,  the 
carving,  the  inlaid  glass  work.  It  seems  as  though 
there  was  no  end  to  the  rows  on  rows  of  Buddhas  in 
every  conceivable  position.  Interspersed  among  them 
are  tall  poles  from  which  float  long  streamers  of  bam- 
boo bearing  painted  historical  pictures,  including 
those  of  the  capture  of  the  pagoda  by  the  British. 
Thousands  crowd  these  platforms.  Some  offer  gifts 
to  various  shrines,  others  say  prayer  after  prayer,  still 
others  strike  bells  to  give  warning  to  evil  spirits  that 
they  have  offered  up  their  petitions  to  Buddha,  others 
hang  eagerly  on  the  words  of  fortune  tellers.  All  buy 
food  and  drink  and  the  whole  place  suggests  in  its 
good  cheer  a  country  picnic  rather  than  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  greatest  Buddhist  shrine  in  the  world. 

When  one  has  left  the  pagoda  he  bears  the  mem- 
ory of  magnificent  decorations,  of  vast  crowds,  but 
of  little  real  reverence.  The  great  golden  pagoda  it- 
self is  the  dominating  feature  in  every  view  of  Ran- 
goon, just  as  the  Washington  monument  dominates 
all  other  structures  in  Washington. 

[92] 


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PLATE    XXXV 

The  Great  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda  at  Rangoon. 

The  Finest  Buddhist  Temple  in  all  Indo-China,  Containing 

Alleged  Relict  of  Gautama.     It  is  Gilded  from   Base 

to  Summit  and  May  be  Seen  Forty  Miles  at  Sea 


PLATE  XXXVI 

Entrance  to  the  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda. 

On  Each  Side  is  an  Enormous  Leogryph,  Built  of 

Brick  and  Covered  With  Plaster.     The 

Porch  Has  a  Superbly  Carved 

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PLATE   XL 

Palm  Avenue,  Royal  Lakes,  Rangoon. 

This  Charadleristic  View  is  From  a  Pretty  Park  ir 

Rangoon.     It  Shows  the  Summit  of  the  Pagoda 

in  the  Distance 


INDIA,  THE  LAND 

OF  TEMPLES,  PALACES 

AND  MONUMENTS 


Calcutta, 

The  Most  Beautiful  of 

Oriental  Cities 


CALCUTTA,  the  great  commercial  port  of  north- 
ern India  and  the  former  capital  of  the  Em- 
pire, is  the  most  beautiful  Oriental  city,  not 
even  excepting  Hongkong.  Its  main  claim  to  this 
distinction  is  the  possession  of  the  famous  Maidan 
or  Esplanade,  which  runs  along  the  Hoogly  river 
for  nearly  two  miles  and  which  far  surpasses  the 
Luneta  of  Manila  in  pifturesqueness.  The  Maidan 
is  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  its  beginning  and 
it  broadens  out  to  one  and  one-quarter  miles  in  width 
at  its  lower  end.  Government  House,  the  residence 
of  the  Viceroy,  is  opposite  the  northern  end  of  the 
Maidan,  while  at  the  southern  end  is  Belvedere,  the 
headquarters  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal. 
With  historic  Fort  William  on  one  side  and  most 
of  the  large  hotels,  the  big  clubs  and  the  Imperial 
Museum  on  the  other,  the  Maidan  is  really  the  cen- 
ter of  all  civic  life.  At  the  southeast  end  is  the  race 
course;  not  far  away  is  the  fine  cathedral.  Near  by 
are  the  beautiful  Eden  Gardens  (the  gift  of  the  sis- 
ters of  the  great  Lord  Auckland),  which  are  note- 
worthy for  the  Burmese  pagoda,  transported  from 
Prome  and  set  up  here  on  the  water's  edge.  It  is 
seldom  that  a  city  is  laid  out  on  such  magnificent 
lines  as  is  Calcutta.  It  reminds  one  of  Washington 
in  its  piduresque  boulevards  and  avenues,  all  finely 
shaded  with  noble  mango  trees.  And  it  also  has  the 


[9S] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

distindlion  of  green  turf  even  in  the  heat  of  summer, 
owing  to  the  heavy  dews  that  refresh  the  grass  like 
showers. 

Calcutta  is  associated  in  the  minds  of  most  read- 
ers with  the  infamous  Black  Hole  into  which  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  wretched  white  people  were 
crowded  on  a  hot  night  of  June  in  1750  and  out  of 
which  only  twenty-three  emerged  alive  on  the  follow- 
ing morning.  The  Black  Hole  was  the  regimental  jail 
of  old  Fort  William  and  its  site  is  now  marked  by 
a  pavement  of  black  marble  and  a  tablet  adjoining 
the  fine  postoffice  building,  while  across  the  street  is 
an  imposing  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  vic- 
tims, whose  names  are  all  enumerated.  The  hole 
was  twenty-two  by  fourteen  feet,  while  it  was  only 
eighteen  feet  in  height.  These  prisoners  who  were 
flung  into  this  little  jail  were  residents  of  Calcutta 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Nawab  of  Mursheda- 
bad.  Calcutta  is  also  famous  as  the  birthplace  of 
Thackeray,  a  bust  of  whom  ornaments  the  art  gal- 
lery of  the  Imperial  Museum.  Scattered  about  the 
Maidan  are  statues  of  a  dozen  men  whose  deeds 
have  shed  luster  on  English  arms  or  diplomacy. 

Calcutta,  as  the  first  city  of  India  that  I  had  seen, 
impressed  me  very  strongly,  although  the  native  life 
has  been  colored  somewhat  by  contadt  with  British 
and  other  Europeans.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  one 
sees  ninety-nine  out  of  one  hundred  people  in  the 
streets  wearing  turbans.  Here  also  the  women  mingle 
freely  in  the  streets,  wearing  long  robes  which  they 
wind  dexterously  about  their  bodies,  leaving  the 
lower  legs  and  the  right  arm  bare.  A  few  cover  the 
face,  but  the  great  majority  leave  it  exposed.  Many 
are  hideously  disfigured  by  large  nose  rings,  while 
others  have  small  rings  or  jewels  set  in  one  nostril. 
Nearly  every  woman  wears  bracelets  on  arms  and 

[96] 


Most  Beautiful  Oriental  City 

wrists,  heavy  anklets  and,  in  many  cases,  massive 
gold  or  silver  rings  on  the  big  toes.  In  some  cases 
what  look  like  heavy  necklaces  are  wound  several 
times  around  the  ankles.  It  is  the  custom  of  the 
lower  and  middle  classes  not  to  put  their  savings  in 
a  bank,  but  to  melt  down  the  coin  and  make  it  into 
bracelets  or  other  ornaments,  which  are  worn  by 
their  women.  Here  in  Calcutta  also  one  sees  for  the 
first  time  hundreds  of  men  and  women  wearing  the 
marks  of  their  caste  on  their  foreheads,  either  painted 
in  red  or  marked  in  white  with  the  ash  of  cow  dung. 

Although  the  main  streets  of  Calcutta  are  dis- 
tin<5lly  European,  a  walk  of  a  few  blocks  in  any  di- 
rection from  the  main  business  sedion  will  bring 
you  into  the  native  or  the  Chinese  quarter,  where 
the  streets  are  narrow,  the  houses  low  between  stor- 
ies and  the  shops  mere  holes  in  the  wall,  with  only 
a  door  for  ventilation.  In  one  quarter  every  store 
is  kept  by  a  Chinese  and  here  a  large  amount  of 
manufadluring  is  done.  In  other  quarters  natives 
are  carrying  on  all  kinds  of  manufacture,  in  the  same 
primitive  way  that  they  worked  two  thousand  years 
ago.  The  carpenter  uses  tools  that  are  very  much 
like  those  in  an  American  boy's  box  of  toy  tools; 
the  shoemaker  does  all  the  work  of  turning  out  a 
finished  shoe  from  the  hide  of  leather  on  his  wall. 
Outside  these  stores  in  the  street  the  most  common 
beast  of  burden  is  a  small  bullock  of  the  size  and 
color  of  a  Jersey  cow;  These  little  animals  pull 
enormous  loads,  and  they  are  so  clever  that  when 
they  see  an  elediric  car  approaching  they  will  start 
on  the  run  and  clear  the  track. 

Many  of  the  houses  in  the  native  quarter  of  Cal- 
cutta are  built  of  adobe,  with  earthen  tiles,  which 
make  them  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  adobe 
dwellings  of  the   Spanish-Californians   before   the 

[97] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

American  occupation.  In  many  cases  very  little 
straw  is  used  in  this  adobe,  for  the  walls  have  fre- 
quently crumbled  away  under  the  heavy  rains  of 
winter.  Other  houses  are  built  of  brick,  faced  with 
plaster,  which  is  either  painted  or  whitewashed. 

What  impresses  any  visitor  is  the  squalor  and 
the  wretchedness  of  these  homes  of  India's  poor. 
The  clothing  of  a  whole  family  is  not  worth  one 
American  dollar,  while  about  ten  cents  in  our  money 
will  feed  a  family  of  four.  The  houses  have  no  fur- 
niture, except  a  bed  of  the  most  primitive  pattern, 
made  of  latticed  reeds;  the  smoke  from  the  cooking 
fire  goes  up  through  the  roof  or  else  finds  its  way 
out  the  open  door;  seldom  are  there  any  windows, 
all  the  air  coming  in  at  the  open  door;  the  floor  of 
the  house  is  of  dirt  and  on  this  squat  father  and 
mother  and  the  children,  with  the  family  goat.  In 
the  small  shops  work  is  carried  on  seven  days  in  the 
week  until  nine  or  ten  o'clock  at  night,  with  an  hour 
for  lunch  and  siesta  at  midday.  The  hopelessness 
of  the  lot  of  the  Hindoo  (who  is  bound  by  rigid 
caste  rules  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father) 
can  never  be  appreciated  until  one  has  seen  him  here 
in  his  native  land. 

For  two  hours  I  watched  scores  of  natives  taking 
a  wash  at  the  large,  free  bathing  ghat  near  the  pon- 
toon bridge.  On  the  river  front  is  a  restaurant,  and 
back  of  this  steps  lead  down  to  a  spacious  platform 
on  the  level  of  the  river.  A  score  of  men  and  boys 
and  one  woman  were  taking  a  bath  in  the  dirty 
water,  which  was  thick  with  mud  washed  up  by  pass- 
ing steamers.  A  few  of  these  bathers  had  rented 
towels  from  an  office  on  the  stairs,  but  the  great 
majority  simply  rubbed  themselves  with  their  hands 
and  then  dried  in  the  sun.  All  washed  their  faces  in 
the  dirty  water  and  rinsed  their  mouths  with  it.  The 

[98] 


Most  Beautiful  Oriental  City 
men  took  off  their  loin  clothes  and  washed  these 
out,  then  wrapped  them  about  their  bodies  and  came 
out  dripping  water.  The  lone  woman  was  very  fat. 
She  waded  into  the  water  and  when  she  came  out 
her  thin  robe  clung  to  her  massive  form  revealing 
all  its  curves.  She  calmly  took  a  seat  on  the  stairs 
and  proceeded  to  massage  her  head. 

The  most  interesting  place  near  Calcutta  is  the 
Royal  Botanical  Gardens,  situated  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  and  about  six  miles  from  town. 
These  gardens  were  laid  out  in  1786  and  they  vie 
with  the  botanic  gardens  at  Singapore  in  the  variety 
of  trees  and  shrubs  from  all  parts  of  the  tropics. 
Here  is  the  great  banyan  tree  which  covers  one  thou- 
sand square  feet  and  is  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
years  old.  At  a  height  of  five  and  one-half  feet  from 
the  ground  the  circumference  of  the  main  trunk  is 
fifty-one  feet;  the  height  is  eighty-five  feet,  while  it 
has  five  hundred  and  seventy  aerial  roots,  which 
have  adually  taken  root  in  the  ground.  The  tree 
at  a  little  distance  looks  like  a  small  grove. 

The  Imperial  Museum  at  Calcutta  is  well  worth 
a  couple  of  hours,  for  it  contains  one  of  the  finest 
colledions  of  antiquities  in  the  Orient.  The  museum 
is  housed  in  an  enormous  building  facing  the  Mai- 
dan,  which  has  a  frontage  of  three  hundred  feet  and 
a  depth  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet.  In  the 
ethnological  gallery  are  arranged  figures  of  all  the 
native  races  of  India  with  their  costumes;  agricultural 
implements,  fishing  and  hunting  appliances,  models 
of  Indian  village  life,  specimens  of  ancient  and  mod- 
ern weapons  and  many  other  exhibits.  Another  room 
that  will  repay  study  is  a  gallery  containing  old  steel 
and  wood  engravings  of  the  great  charaders  in  the 
mutiny,  with  busts  of  Clive,  Havelock,  Outram  and 
Nicholson,  and  with  a  life-size  bust  of  Thackeray. 

[99] 


Bathing 

AND  Burning  the  Dead  at 

Benares 


IT  is  estimated  that  one  million  pilgrims  visit  the 
sacred  city  of  Benares  every  year,  and  it  is  these 
pilgrims  that  furnish  the  largest  income  which 
the  city  receives  from  any  source.  Here  are  the  most 
holy  shrines  of  Buddhism;  here  Vishnu  and  Siva 
have  their  strongholds,  and  here  must  come  Hindoos 
from  all  parts  of  India  to  bathe  in  the  sacred  waters 
of  the  Ganges  and  to  offer  up  prayers  at  the  many 
holy  shrines  in  the  city's  temples. 

Benares  is  sacred  because  here  Buddha  first  made 
his  residence.  The  place  that  he  seleded  was  ancient 
Sarnath,  six  miles  from  Benares,  which  is  now  a  heap 
of  ruins,  in  which  British  government  experts  are 
delving  for  remains  of  the  great  city  that  was  founded 
six  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  At  Sarnath 
Buddha  built  a  great  temple  and  founded  a  school 
from  which  his  disciples  spread  to  all  parts  of  India. 
But  after  750  A.D.  Buddhism  disappeared  gradually 
from  India,  and  Hindooism  took  its  place.  The  fine 
temples  that  now  line  the  Ganges  for  three  miles  were 
built  by  Maratha  princes  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
They  also  built  the  scores  of  bathing  ghats  that  now 
furnish  one  of  the  most  pi6turesque  spedtacles  that 
the  world  affords.  A  ghat  in  Hindustani  is  a  stone 
stairway  that  leads  down  to  the  water,  and  Benares 
has  a  succession  of  these  magnificent  stairways  lead- 
ing down  to  the  Ganges,  overlooked  by  palaces  of 
[100] 


Hindoos  Bathing  in  the  Ganges  at  Benares. 

This  is  a  View  of  the  Dasaswamedh  Ghat,  the  Most 

Popular  Bathing  Pbce  in  the  Sacred  City.    Note 

the  Holy  Men  Under  the  Umbrellas,  Who 

Take  Tribute  of  All  Bathers 


Bathing  and  Burning  the  Dead 

many  Maharajas  and  temples  built  by  rulers  and 
priests.  No  sight  more  splendid  could  be  conceived 
than  that  of  these  domes  and  minarets  flashing  in 
the  rays  of  the  early  morning  sun  while  thousands 
of  devout  believers  crowd  the  bathing  ghats  and 
oflTer  prayers  to  Vishnu,  after  they  have  bathed  in 
the  waters  of  the  Ganges;  and  mourning  relatives 
burn  the  bodies  of  their  dead  after  these  have  had  the 
sacred  water  poured  over  their  faces. 

The  visitor  who  wishes  to  see  the  pious  Hindoos 
bathe  in  the  Ganges  goes  to  the  river  in  the  early 
morning  soon  after  the  sun  has  risen.  He  descends 
one  of  the  large  ghats  and  takes  a  boat,  in  which  he 
may  be  rowed  down  the  river  past  the  bathing  ghats 
and  the  one  ghat  where  the  dead  are  burned.  The 
scene  is  one  that  will  never  be  forgotten.  Against 
the  clear  sky  is  outlined  a  succession  of  domes  and 
spires  that  mark  the  position  of  a  score  of  sacred 
shrines,  with  two  slender  minarets  that  rise  from  the 
mosque  built  by  the  great  Moslem  Emperor,  Au- 
runzeb.  The  sunlight  flashes  on  these  domes  and 
spires  and  it  lights  up  thousands  of  bathing  floats 
and  stands  that  line  the  muddy  banks  of  the  river. 
The  floats  are  dotted  with  hundreds  of  bathers  and 
the  number  of  these  increases  every  few  minutes. 
They  come  by  hundreds  down  the  great  stone  stair- 
ways to  their  favorite  bathing  places,  where,  after  a 
thorough  bath,  they  may  be  shaved  or  massaged  or 
may  listen  to  the  expounding  of  the  Hindoo  sacred 
books  by  a  learned  Brahmin  sitting  in  the  shade 
of  a  huge  umbrella.  A  charaderistic  feature  of  this 
hillside  is  the  number  of  these  large  umbrellas,each  of 
which  marks  the  place  of  a  priest  or  a  holy  man  who 
has  done  some  marvels  of  penance  that  give  him  a 
strong  hold  on  the  superstitious  natives  and  induce 
them  to  pay  him  well  for  prayers  or  a  sacred  talisman. 

[lOl] 


^AMTA  BARBARA  COUJSGE  LIBRAKY 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

With  my  boat  moored  near  the  bank  and  diredly 
opposite  the  Manikarnika  ghat,  the  favorite  place  on 
the  river,  I  watched  the  stream  of  bathers  for  nearly 
an  hour.  The  fanatical  devotion  that  will  induce  a 
reasonable  human  being  to  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges  seems  incredible  to  anyone  from  the  West- 
ern World.  The  water  of  the  sacred  river  is  here  of 
the  consistency  of  pea  soup.  The  city's  sewer  pipes 
empty  into  the  Ganges  just  above  the  bathing  ghats, 
and  the  current  carries  this  filth  diredly  to  the  place 
which  the  Hindoos  have  seleded  for  their  rites.  The 
water  is  not  only  muddy  and  unclean,  but  it  offends 
the  nose.  Yet  Hindoos  of  good  family  bathe  here 
side  by  side  with  the  poverty  stricken.  They  use  the 
mud  of  the  Ganges  in  lieu  of  soap;  they  scrub  their 
bodies  thoroughly,  and  then  they  adhially  take  this 
foul-smelling  water  in  their  mouths  and  clean  their 
teeth  with  it.  This  creed  of  Buddha  is  a  pure  democ- 
racy, for  there  is  no  distinftion  of  class  in  bathing. 
Women  bathe  by  the  side  of  men,  although  they 
remain  covered  with  the  gauze-like  garments  that 
are  a  sop  to  modesty. 

The  Manikarnika  ghat  is  the  most  piduresque 
of  all  these  bathing  places  along  the  Ganges,  as  the 
long  flight  of  stone  steps  is  in  good  preservation  and 
the  background  of  temples  and  palaces  satisfies  the 
eye.  The  river  front  for  thirty  feet  is  densely  crowded 
with  bathers  who  stand  on  small  floats  or  go  into 
the  shallow  water.  With  a  Western  crowd  so  dense 
as  this  there  would  be  infringments  of  individual 
rights  that  would  lead  to  quarrels  and  fights,  but  the 
Hindoo  is  slow  to  anger,  and,  like  the  Japanese,  he 
has  great  courtesy  for  his  fellows.  Hundreds  bathed 
at  the  ghat  while  I  watched  them  and  no  trouble 
ensued.  Nothing  could  be  more  striking,  nothing 
more  Oriental  than  the  pidure  of  scores  of  bathers, 

[102] 


Bathing  and  Burning  the  Dead 

in  bright-hued  garments,  moving  up  and  down  these 
long  flights  of  massive  steps.  In  the  background 
were  a  half-dozen  temples,  the  most  noteworthy  of 
which  is  the  red-domed  temple  of  the  Rajah  of 
Amethi,  whose  beautiful  palace  overlooks  this  scene. 
Near  the  water  is  a  curious  leaning  temple,  whose 
foundations  were  evidently  unsettled  by  the  severe 
earthquake  which  destroyed  several  temples  farther 
down  the  river. 

The  busiest  men  on  these  bathing  ghats  are  the 
Hindoo  priests,  who  reap  a  harvest  from  the  hun- 
dreds of  pilgrims  who  visit  the  ghats  during  the  day. 
These  priests  cannot  be  escaped  by  the  poorest  Hin- 
doo. They  levy  toll  from  every  one  who  descends 
these  long  flights  of  stairs.  One  fellow  I  watched  as 
he  sat  under  his  great  umbrella.  He  had  his  sacred 
books  spread  before  him,  but  he  was  given  no  leis- 
ure for  reading  them,  as  a  constant  stream  of  clients 
passed  before  him.  Some  of  these  were  regular  daily 
visitors  from  Benares,  who  pay  a  certain  rate  every 
week  or  every  month,  according  to  their  financial 
standing.  Others  were  pilgrims  who,  in  their  enthu- 
siasm over  the  sacred  Ganges  (which  they  had  trav- 
eled hundreds  of  miles  to  bathe  in),  were  not  care- 
ful in  regard  to  their  fees.  Others  were  mourning 
relatives  who  applied  for  prayers  for  the  corpse  which 
they  had  brought  to  the  waterside,  and  still  others 
demanded  hurried  prayers  for  the  dying,  whose  last 
breath  would  be  drawn  by  the  bank  of  the  sacred 
river.  Incidentally  the  priests  sold  charms  and  amu- 
lets guaranteed  to  bring  good  fortune.  Most  of  the 
payments  were  in  copper  pice,  four  of  which  make 
one  of  our  cents,  but  many  of  these  priests  had  great 
heaps  of  this  coin  in  front  of  them,  showing  that 
though  India  may  be  suffering  from  a  bad  harvest 
the  faker  may  always  feed  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 

[103] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

The  spedacle,  however,  which  stamps  Benares 
upon  the  memory  is  the  burning  of  the  dead  at  a  ghat 
by  the  Ganges.  This  ghat  is  reserved  exclusively  for 
the  cremation  of  Hindoo  dead.  No  Mussulman  can 
use  it.  It  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  my  boat  reached  this  burning  ghat.  Already  one 
body  had  been  placed  on  a  funeral  pyre  of  wood. 
The  guide  said  this  body  was  that  of  a  poor  man  who 
had  no  relatives  or  friends,  as  the  place  where  the 
relatives  sit  until  the  cremation  is  complete  was 
empty.  Soon,  however,  two  men  came  rushing  down 
the  stone  steps  with  a  corpse  strapped  to  a  bamboo 
stretcher.  The  body  was  that  of  a  woman,  dressed 
in  red  garments,  which  signified  that  she  was  a  mar- 
ried woman.  Unmarried  women  are  arrayed  in  yel- 
low and  other  colors,  while  men  must  be  content 
with  white.  The  stretcher-bearers  placed  their  bur- 
den with  its  feet  in  the  Ganges  and  then  went  in 
search  of  wood  which  is  purchased  from  a  dealer. 
Soon  they  had  a  supply,  which  they  piled  up  in  the 
form  of  a  bier,  and  on  this  they  placed  the  woman's 
corpse.  Then  one  of  the  men,  who,  the  guide  said, 
was  the  dead  woman's  husband,  with  tears  streaming 
from  his  eyes,  bore  some  of  the  water  of  the  Ganges 
to  the  bier,  exposed  the  face  of  the  dead  and  poured 
the  sacred  water  upon  her  mouth  and  her  eyes.  Then 
while  his  companion  piled  wood  above  the  body  the 
husband  sought  the  low-caste  Hindoos  who  sell  fire 
for  burning  the  body.  He  soon  returned  with  sev- 
eral large  bundles  of  coarse  straw,  one  of  which  was 
smoking.  Seven  times  the  husband  passed  around 
the  bier  with  the  smoking  straw  before  he  applied  the 
flame  to  the  wood.  The  fire  licked  greedily  at  the 
wood,  and  soon  the  flames  had  reached  the  body. 
Then  the  husband  and  his  friend  repaired  to  a  stand 
near  by,  from  which  they  watched  the  cremation. 

[104] 


Bathing  and  Burning  the  Dead 

Meanwhile  two  other  bodies  had  been  rushed 
down  to  the  water's  edge.  One  was  evidently  that  of 
a  wealthy  woman, dressed  in  yellow  silk  and  borne  by 
two  richly  garbed  attendants.  The  other  was  that  of 
an  old  man,  attended  by  his  son.  The  latter  was  very 
speedy  in  securing  wood  and  in  building  a  funeral 
pyre.  Soon  the  old  man's  corpse  was  stretched  on 
the  bier  and  the  son  was  applying  the  torch.  He  was 
a  good-looking  young  fellow,  dressed  in  the  clean, 
white  garments  of  mourning  and  freshly  shaved  for 
the  funeral  ceremonies.  While  he  was  burning  the 
body  of  his  father  another  corpse  of  a  man  was  rushed 
down  to  the  river's  edge  and  placed  upon  a  bier. 
This  body  was  fearfully  emaciated,  and  when  the 
two  attendants  raised  it  in  its  white  shroud,  one  arm 
that  hung  down  limp  was  not  larger  than  that  of  a 
healthy  five-year-old  boy,  while  the  legs  were  mere 
skin  and  bones.  It  was  an  ugly  sight  to  see  the 
Ganges  water  poured  over  the  face  of  this  corpse,, 
which  was  set  in  a  ghastly  grin  with  wide-open  eyes. 
The  man  had  evidently  died  while  he  was  being  hur- 
ried to  the  burning  ghat,  as  the  Hindoos  believe  that 
it  is  evil  for  one  to  die  in  the  house.  Hence  most  of 
the  corpses  have  staring  eyes,  as  they  breathed  their 
last  on  the  way  to  the  river. 

No  solemnity  marks  this  cremation  by  the  river's 
edge.  The  relatives  who  bring  down  the  body  hag- 
gle over  the  price  of  the  wood  and  try  to  cheapen 
the  sum  demanded  by  the  low-caste  man  for  fire  for 
the  burning.  The  greed  of  the  priest  who  performs 
the  last  rite  and  who  prepares  the  relatives  for  the 
cremation  is  an  unlovely  sight.  All  about  the  burn- 
ing ghat  where  the  poor  dead  are  being  reduced  to 
ashes  hundreds  are  bathing  or  washing  their  clothes. 
The  spectacle  that  so  profoundly  impresses  a  stran- 
ger is  to  them  so  common  as  to  excite  no  interest. 

['°S] 


lucknow  and 

Cawnpore,  Cities  of 

The  Mutiny 


IUCKNOW  and  Cawnpore  are  the  two  cities  of  India 
that  are  most  closely  associated  in  the  minds 
«jf  of  most  readers  with  the  great  mutiny.  The 
one  recalls  the  most  heroic  defense  in  the  history  of 
any  country;  the  other  recalls  the  most  piteous  trag- 
edy in  the  long  record  of  suffering  and  death  scored 
against  the  Sepoys.  The  British  government  in  both 
of  these  cities  has  raised  memorials  to  the  men  who 
gave  their  lives  in  defending  them  and,  though  the 
art  is  inferior  in  both,  the  story  is  so  full  of  genuine 
courage,  loyalty,  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  that  it 
will  always  find  eager  readers.  So  the  pilgrims  to 
these  shrines  of  the  mutiny  cannot  fail  to  be  touched 
by  the  relics  of  the  men  and  women  who  showed 
heroism  of  the  highest  order.  When  one  goes  through 
the  rooms  in  the  ruined  Residency  at  Lucknow  he 
feels  again  the  thrill  with  which  he  first  read  of  the 
splendid  defense  made  by  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and 
of  the  Scotch  girl  who  declared  she  heard  the  pipes 
of  the  Campbells  a  day  before  they  adtually  broke 
on  the  ears  of  the  beleaguered  garrison.  And  when 
one  stands  in  front  of  the  site  of  the  old  well  at  Cawn- 
pore, into  which  the  bleeding  bodies  of  the  butchered 
women  and  children  of  the  garrison  were  thrown, 
the  tears  come  to  his  eyes  over  the  terrible  fate  of 
these  poor  vidims  of  the  cruelty  of  Nana  Sahib. 
The  sight  of  these  Indian  cities  also  makes  one 


[1 06] 


Two  Cities  of  the  Mutiny 

appreciate  more  fully  the  tremendous  odds  against 
which  this  mere  handful  of  English  men  and  women 
contended. 

Lucknow  is  the  fifth  city  in  size  in  the  Indian 
Empire.  It  is  reached  by  a  six  hours'  ride  from 
Benares  which  is  interesting,  as  the  railroad  runs 
through  a  good  farming  country,  in  which  many  of 
the  original  trees  have  been  left.  Lucknow  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  mutiny  was  fortunate  in  the  posses- 
sion of  one  of  the  ablest  army  commanders  in  the 
Indian  service.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  when  he  saw 
that  mutiny  was  imminent,  gathered  a  large  supply 
of  stores  and  ammunition  in  the  Residency  at  Luck- 
now. When  the  siege  began  Lawrence  found  himself 
in  a  well-fortified  place,  with  large  supplies.  About 
one  thousand  refugees  were  in  the  Residency  and  the 
safety  of  these  people  was  due  largely  to  the  massive 
walls  of  the  building  and  to  the  skill  and  courage  with 
which  the  defense  was  handled.  In  reading  the  story 
of  this  siege  of  five  months,  from  June  to  Novem- 
ber, it  seems  incredible  that  a  small  garrison  could 
withstand  so  constant  a  bombardment  of  heavy  guns 
and  so  harassing  a  fire  of  small  arms;  but  when  you 
go  through  the  Residency  the  reason  is  obvious. 
Here  are  the  ruins  of  a  building  ereded  by  an  old 
Arab  chief  during  the  Mohammedan  rule  in  Luck- 
now. The  walls  are  from  three  to  five  feet  in  thick- 
ness, of  a  kind  of  flat,  red  brick  like  the  modern  tile. 
When  laid  up  well  in  good  mortar  such  walls  are  as 
solid  as  though  built  of  stone.  What  added  to  the 
safety  of  the  building  was  the  great  underground 
apartments,  built  originally  for  summer  quarters  for 
the  old  Moslem's  harem,  but  used  during  the  siege  ^ 
as  a  retreat  for  the  women  and  children.  So  well 
proteded  were  these  rooms  that  only  one  shell  ever 
penetrated  them  and  this  shot  did  no  damage.  The 

[107] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

building  reveals  traces  of  the  heavy  fire  to  which  it 
was  subjeded,  but  in  no  case  were  the  walls  broken 
down. 

The  story  of  the  siege  of  Lucknow  has  been  told 
by  poets  and  prose  writers  for  over  a  half  century, 
but  the  theme  is  still  full  of  interest.  Tennyson  dealt 
with  it  in  a  ballad  that  is  full  of  fire,  each  verse  end- 
ing with  the  spirited  refrain: 

And  ever  upon  the  topmost  roof  the  banner  of  England  blew. 
All  that  it  is  necessary  to  do  here  is  to  refresh 
the  reader's  memory  with  the  salient  events.  The 
besieged  were  admirably  handled  by  competent  offi- 
cers and  they  beat  off  repeated  attacks  by  the 
mutineers  (who  outnumbered  them  more  than  one 
hundred  to  one).  Lawrence  was  fatally  wounded  on 
July  the  second  and  died  two  days  later.  In  Sep- 
tember General  Havelock,  after  desperate  fighting, 
made  his  way  into  Lucknow,  but  his  force  was  so 
small  that  only  fifteen  hundred  men  were  added  to 
the  garrison.  It  was  not  until  November  the  seven- 
teenth that  the  garrison  was  finally  relieved  by  the 
union  of  forces  under  Havelock  and  Outram  and 
Sir  Colin  Campbell.  Never  in  the  history  of  warfare 
has  a  garrison  had  to  endure  greater  hardships  than 
that  of  Lucknow.  Incessant  attacks  by  night  and 
day  kept  the  small  force  worn  out  by  constant  guard 
duty  and,  to  add  to  their  miseries,  intense  heat  was 
made  more  merciless  by  swarms  of  flies.  When  one 
bears  in  mind  that  the  Indian  summer  brings  heat 
of  from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred  and 
forty  degrees  it  may  be  seen  how  great  was  the  cour- 
age of  the  garrison  that  could  fight  bravely  and  cheer- 
fully under  such  heavy  odds.  The  memorial  tablets 
at  Lucknow,  Delhi,  Cawnpore  and  other  places  bear 
witness  to  this  heroism  of  the  British  soldier  during 
the  mutiny,  but  you  do  not  fully  appreciate  this 

[io8] 


Two  Cities  of  the  Mutiny 

splendid  courage  until  you  see  the  country  and  feel 
the  power  of  its  sun. 

Cawnpore,  which  is  only  three  hours*  ride  from 
Lucknow,  is  another  city  of  India  that  recalls  the 
saddest  tragedy  of  the  mutiny.  Here  it  was  that  bad 
judgment  of  the  general  in  charge  led  to  great  suf- 
fering and  the  final  butchery  of  all  except  a  few  of 
the  residents.  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler,  a  veteran  officer, 
wisely  doubted  the  fidelity  of  the  Sepoys  and  de- 
cided to  establish  a  place  where  he  could  store  sup- 
plies and  assure  a  safe  asylum  for  the  women  and  chil- 
dren; but,  instead  of  seleding  the  magazine,  which 
was  on  the  river  and  had  strong  walls,  he  aftually 
went  down  two  miles  in  a  level  plain  and  threw  up 
earth  entrenchments.  This  he  did  because  he  said 
he  feared  to  excite  the  suspicion  of  the  Sepoys  and 
thus  incite  them  to  revolt.  The  result  was  disastrous, 
for  the  earth  walls  that  he  raised  furnished  poor  pro- 
tection and  the  place  was  raked  by  the  native  artil- 
lery and  small  arms  from  every  point  of  the  compass. 
A  worse  place  to  defend  could  not  have  been  chosen, 
but  the  twenty  officers  and  two  hundred  men  held 
it  against  a  horde  of  mutinous  natives  for  twenty 
days  of  blazing  heat.  The  only  water  for  the  little 
garrison  was  obtained  under  severe  fire  of  the  enemy 
from  a  well  sixty  feet  deep. 

Finally,  when  the  supply  of  provisions  was  nearly 
exhausted.  General  Wheeler  agreed  to  surrender  to 
the  Nana  Sahib,  provided  the  men  were  allowed  to 
carry  arms  and  ammunition  and  boats  were  furnished 
for  safe  condud  down  the  river.  Of  course,  the 
Nana  accepted  these  terms,  but  it  seems  incredible 
that  a  veteran  army  officer  should  have  trusted  the 
lives  of  women  and  children  to  Sepoys  who  were  as 
cruel  as  our  own  Apaches.  The  little  garrison, with 
the  wounded,  the  women  and  the  children,  was  es- 

[109] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 
corted  down  to  the  river  and  placed  on  barges.  But 
when  the  order  was  given  to  push  off,  the  treacher- 
ous Sepoys  grounded  the  boats  in  the  mud  and  the 
gunners  of  Nana  Sahib  opened  fire  on  the  barges. 
The  grape  shot  set  fire  to  the  matting  of  the  barges 
and  many  of  the  wounded  were  smothered.   One 
boat  escaped  down  the  river,  but  the  survivors  were 
captured  after  several  days  of  hardship,  the  men  mur- 
dered and  the  women  and  children  brought  back  to 
Cawnpore.   The  men  in  the  other  boats  who  sur- 
vived were  shot,  but  one  hundred  and. twenty-five 
women  and  children  were  returned  to  Cawnpore  as 
prisoners.  They  spent  seven  anxious  days  and  then 
when  Nana  Sahib  saw  he  could  not  hold  Cawnpore 
any  longer  he  ordered  the  Sepoys  to  shoot  the 
English  women  and  children.  To  the  credit  of  these 
mutineers  they  refused  to  obey  orders  and  fired  into 
the  ceiling  of  the  wretched  rooms  where  the  prison- 
ers were  lodged.   Then  Nana  Sahib  sent  for  five 
butchers  and  these  men,  with  their  long  knives, 
murdered  the  helpless  vidims  of  this  monster  of 
cruelty.   On  the  following  morning  the  bodies  of 
dead  and  dying  were  cast  into  the  well  at  Cawnpore. 
On  the  site  of  this  well  has  been  raised  a  costly 
memorial  surmounted  by  a  marble  angel  of  the  res- 
urredion.  The  design  is  not  impressive,  but  no  one 
can  see  it  without  pity  for  the  unfortunates  who  were 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  most  atrocious  char- 
after  of  modern  rimes.   The  Memorial  Church  at 
Cawnpore,  which  cost  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
contdns  a  series  of  tablets  to  those  who  fell  in  the 
mutiny. 


[no] 


, 


i 


JO  3JB4S  pOo9  V  UI  SI  *I[BM  3AISSB1 

JU31DUB  aij}  spisui  punoj  si  ; 
3uy  31JJ  JO  4SO j^  'aiqjEiu  ui  3( 
"°W  PI°  ^H^  P  uoi;b5iuii  puB  / 
p|o3  JO  apBui  SI  XjjBpads  b  puB 
sdoqs  3i{  j^  -jaijSiij  3uiai[  jo  pj 
33jqi  3S3i{;  JO  XuB  punojB  ;bi{;  u 
SUI33S  puB[  aqjL  'Mou^Dnq  jo  s; 

pajBduiOD  U3l{MSS3UI[UB3|D  S^A^ 
\\IJA  J I    Ua^BJ  3l|;   lUOJJ   SSJIUI 

-unij  aqSp  puB  J3UIJOJ  3ij}  uioj: 
pajpunq  aqSia  'XBquiog  puB  i 
XjjBnba  jsouijB  si  puB  jsau  buui 
-B[ndod  puBsnoqj  psjpunq  om 
•squioj  puB  sanb 
^fJOM  uiajsoj/^  jsaq  aq;  jo  suai 
aqj  3DU3q  iiqpQ  o;  XpuauBuij; 
-ny  jpun  Bipuj  qjaou  ui  sjidiu 
JO  jBjidBD  3q:i  SBM  BjSy  'pBj  ii  J  ■ 
jnSop^  5B3j3  aq;  Xq  ;jinq  s3DB| 
-uaids  XuBui  aq  J  JO  ssnBoaq  jisia 
X^p  aqj  qSnoqj  JpjjoM  aq:^'  iii 
-unBaq  ^soui  aqj  aq  oj  paSpajMo 
'\^^^Vi  f^X  ^H^  -^oj  Xq;joMa;oi 


ONiaiin 

^IVHVp^  fvj[ 


>.* 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

drive  from  the  city  and  its  beautiful  dome  and  min- 
arets may  be  seen  from  many  parts  of  Agra  and  its 
suburbs.  This  tomb,  built  of  white  marble,  was  ereded 
by  Shah  Jehan,  the  chief  builder  among  the  Mogul 
Emperors  of  India,  in  memory  of  his  favorite  wife, 
Arjmand  Banu.  She  married  Shah  Jehan  in  1615 
and  died  fourteen  years  after,  as  she  was  giving  birth 
to  her  eighth  child.  Shah  Jehan,  who  had  already 
built  many  fine  palaces  and  mosques,  determined  to 
perpetuate  her  memory  for  all  time  by  erediing  the 
finest  tomb  in  the  world.  So  he  planned  the  Taj, 
which  required  twenty-two  years  and  twenty  million 
dollars  to  build;  but  so  well  was  the  work  done  that 
nearly  three  hundred  years  have  left  little  trace  on 
on  its  walls  or  its  splendid  decorations. 

This  Mogul  despot,  who  knew  many  women, 
spent  an  imperial  fortune  in  fashioning  this  noblest 
memorial  to  love  ever  built  by  the  hand  of  man. 
Incidentally  he  probably  sacrificed  twenty  thousand 
coolies,  for  he  built  the  Taj  by  forced  labor,  the  same 
kind  that  reared  the  pyramids  and  carved  the  sphinx. 
All  the  material  was  brought  from  great  distances. 
The  white  marble  came  from  Jeypore  and  was  hauled 
in  bullock  carts  or  carried  by  elephants;  the  jasper 
came  from  the  Punjab,  the  jade  from  China  and  the 
precious  stones  from  many  parts  of  Central  Asia, 
from  Thibet  to  Arabia. 

The  Emperor  summoned  the  best  architedls  and 
workers  in  precious  stones  of  his  time  and  asked 
them  for  designs.  It  is  evident  that  many  hands 
united  in  the  plans  of  the  building,  but  history  gives 
the  credit  for  the  main  design  to  a  Persian.  An  Ital- 
ian archited  lent  aid  in  the  ornamentation  and  three 
inlaid  flowers  are  shown  to-day  as  specimens  of  his 
work.  The  building  itself  is  only  a  shadow  of  its 
former  magnificence— for  the  many  alien  conquerors 

[II.] 


The  World's  Loveliest  Building 

of  India  have  despoiled  in  it  in  succession,  taking 
away  the  solid  silver  gates,  the  diamonds, rubies,  sap- 
phires and  other  precious  stones  from  the  flower 
decorations,  and  even  the  gold  and  silver  from  the 
mosaic  work.  All  the  precious  stones  looted  by  van- 
dal hands  have  been  restored  by  imitations,  which 
closely  resemble  the  priceless  originals.  Restorations 
have  also  been  made  where  the  marble  has  been 
defaced  or  broken. 

The  Taj  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  great  garden, 
laid  out  with  so  much  skill  that  from  any  part  of  its 
many  beautiful  walks  fine  views  may  be  had  of  the 
dome  and  the  minarets.  This  garden  is  planted  to 
many  tropical  trees  and  flowering  shrubs  whose  foli- 
age brings  out  in  high  relief  the  beauty  of  the  flawless 
marble  tomb.  The  main  gateway  of  the  garden, 
built  of  red  sandstone,  would  be  regarded  as  a  splen- 
did work  of  art  were  it  not  for  the  superior  beauty 
of  the  tomb  itself.  The  gate  is  inlaid  in  white  marble 
with  inscriptions  from  the  Koran,  and  it  is  sur- 
mounted by  twenty  little  marble  cupolas. 

Once  inside  the  gate  the  beauty  and  the  majesty  of 
the  Taj  strike  one  like  a  physical  blow.  Simple  as 
is  the  design,  so  perfedly  has  it  been  wrought  out 
that  the  building  gives  the  impression  of  the  last 
word  in  delicate  and  unique  ornamentation.  The 
white  marble  base  on  which  the  building  rests  is 
three  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  square  and  rises  eight- 
een feet  from  the  ground.  The  tomb  itself  is  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  feet  square,  with  a  dome 
that  rises  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the 
base.  At  each  corner  of  the  base  is  a  graceful  min- 
aret of  white  marble  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
feet  high.  Although  no  color  is  used  on  the  ex- 
terior, the  decoration  is  so  rich  as  to  prevent  all 
monotony. 

["3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

In  every  detail  the  Taj  satisfies  the  eye,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  work  on  the  minarets.  The 
squares  of  marble  that  cover  these  minarets  are  laid 
in  dark-colored  mortar  which  brings  out  strongly 
each  stone.  It  would  have  lent  more  softness  to  these 
minarets  had  the  individual  stones  not  been  revealed, 
an  efFe(5k  that  could  have  been  secured  by  using 
white  mortar.  "When  the  shades  of  evening  fall  these 
minarets  are  far  more  beautiful  than  by  day,  as  they 
are  softened  by  the  wiping  out  of  the  lines  about  the 
stones.  Under  the  strong  light  of  the  noonday  sun 
the  marble  that  covers  the  dome  shows  various  shades 
ranging  from  light  gray  to  pearly  white,  but  by  the 
soft  evening  light  all  these  colors  are  merged  and 
the  dome  looks  like  a  huge  soap  bubble  resting  light 
as  foam  on  the  body  of  the  tomb. 

A  front  photograph  of  the  Taj  gives  a  good  idea 
of  its  effed:.  Standing  at  the  portal  of  the  main 
entrance  one  gets  the  superb  effed:  of  the  marble  path- 
way that  borders  the  two  canals  in  which  the  build- 
ing is  mirrored.  Midway  across  this  pathway  is  a 
broad,  raised  marble  platform,  with  a  central  foun- 
tain, from  which  the  best  view  of  the  building  may 
be  secured.  The  path  on  each  side  from  this  plat- 
form to  the  main  stairway  is  bordered  by  a  row  of 
cypress  and  back  of  these  are  great  mango  trees  at 
least  twenty  feet  high.  These  should  be  removed 
and  smaller  trees  substituted,  as  they  interfere  seri- 
ously with  a  perfed  view  of  the  tomb. 

From  this  platform  the  eye  rests  on  the  Taj  with 
a  sense  of  perfedl  satisfadlion  that  is  given  by  no 
other  building  I  have  ever  seen.  The  very  simplic- 
ity of  the  design  aids  in  this  efFed.  It  seems  well 
nigh  impossible  that  a  mere  tomb  of  white  marble 
should  convey  so  vivid  an  impression  of  complete- 
ness and  majesty,  yet  at  the  same  time  that  every 

["4] 


s- 
5t: 


II 


n    5"t3    <»     C    ^  2  ' 


3  o  ^  _ 

2.  ■    ?  6  -~  s 


?.rs 


c.  c  a.' 

9^  Q   3 


The  World's  Loveliest  Building 

detail  should  suggest  lightness  and  delicacy.  The 
little  cupolas  below  the  dome  as  well  as  the  pinnacles 
of  the  minarets  add  to  this  efFedt  of  airy  grace. 

When  one  ascends  the  steps  to  the  main  door  he 
begins  to  perceive  the  secret  of  this  efFedl  on  the 
senses.  Everything  is  planned  for  harmony  and  pro- 
portion. The  pointed  arch,  of  which  all  Moslem 
archite(5ts  were  enamored,is  shown  in  the  main  door- 
way and  in  the  principal  windows  of  the  front.  This 
doorway  rises  almost  to  the  full  height  of  the  tomb 
and  on  each  side  are  recessed  windows,  with  beauti- 
fully pointed  tops. 

All  the  angles  and  spandrels  of  the  building  are 
inlaid  with  precious  stones  as  well  as  with  texts  from 
the  Koran.  In  the  center  of  the  building  is  an  oc- 
tagonal chamber,  twenty-four  feet  on  each  side,with 
various  rooms  around  it  devoted  to  the  imperial 
tombs.  A  dome,  fifty-eight  feet  in  diameter,  rises 
to  a  height  of  eighty  feet,  beneath  which,  inclosed 
by  a  trellis-work  screen  of  white  marble,  are  the 
tombs  of  the  Favorite  of  the  Palace  and  of  the  great 
Emperor.  The  Emperor,  with  a  touch  of  the  Ori- 
ental despot,  has  made  his  tomb  a  little  larger  than 
that  of  the  woman  whom  he  honored  in  this  unique 
fashion.  The  delicate  tracery  in  marble,  so  charac- 
teristic of  Mogul  work  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is 
seen  here  at  its  best,  as  well  as  the  inlays  of  the  lotus 
and  other  flowers  in  sapphire,  turquoise  and  other 
stones.  The  eflfeft  is  highly  decorative  and  at  the 
same  time  chaste  and  subdued.  A  feature  which  im- 
presses every  visitor  is  the  remarkable  trellis  work 
in  marble.  A  solid  slab  of  marble,  about  six  feet  by 
four  and  about  two  inches  in  thickness,  is  used  as  a 
panel.  This  is  cut  out  into  many  designs  that  re- 
mind one  of  fine  old  lace.  These  panels  abound  in 
every  important  room  of  the  Taj. 

["5] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

The  Taj  has  suffered  little  serious  damage  from 
the  conquerors  who  successively  despoiled  it  of  its 
wealth  of  precious  stones.  The  places  of  these  jew- 
els have  been  supplied  with  imitations  which  are 
almost  as  effedive  as  the  originals.  In  a  few  instances 
the  marble  has  been  chipped  or  broken,  but,  through 
the  generosity  of  Lord  Curzon,  these  blemishes  have 
been  removed,  and  the  whole  strudhire  exists  to-day 
almost  as  it  did  three  hundred  years  ago  when  Ak- 
bar's  grandson  completed  it  and  found  it  good. 

The  Taj  should  be  seen  by  day  and  again  at 
nightfall.  In  the  full  glare  of  the  brilliant  Indian 
sun  the  dome  and  the  minarets  stand  out  with  extra- 
ordinary clearness,  yet  the  lightness  and  buoyancy 
of  the  dome  is  not  injured  by  the  fierce  light.  Seen 
at  sundown  the  Taj  is  at  its  best.  All  the  lines  are 
softened;  the  minarets  and  the  perfe<5l  dome  give  an 
appearance  of  lightness  and  grace  not  of  this  world; 
they  suggest  the  cloud-capped  towers  and  gorgeous 
palaces  of  the  poet's  vision.  As  the  afterglow  fades, 
the  Taj  takes  on  an  air  of  mystery  and  aloofness; 
the  perfed  lines  melt  into  one  another  and  the  whole 
structure  is  blurred  as  though  it  were  seen  in  a  dream. 
Then  one  bids  adieu  to  the  world's  perfedl  building, 
thankful  that  he  has  been  given  the  opportunity  to 
enjoy  the  greatest  marvel  of  architedure,which  leaves 
on  the  mind  the  same  impression  left  by  splendid 
music  or  the  notes  of  a  great  singer.  Words  are 
poor  to  describe  things  like  the  Taj,  which  become 
our  cherished  possessions  and  may  be  recalled  to 
cheer  hours  of  despondency  or  grief. 


[ii6] 


Delhi  and  Its 

Ancient  Mohammedan 

Ruins 


DELHI,  the  ancient  Mogul  capital  of  India,  is 
an  interesting  city,  not  only  because  of  its 
present-day  life  but  because  it  contains  so 
many  memorials  of  the  Mohammedan  conquest  of 
the  country.  The  ancient  Moslem  emperors  were 
men  who  did  things.  Above  all  else  they  were  build- 
ers, who  construded  tombs,  palaces  and  mosques 
that  have  survived  for  nearly  four  hundred  years. 
They  builded  for  all  time,  rearing  massive  walls  of 
masonry  that  the  most  powerful  British  guns  during 
the  mutiny  were  unable  to  batter  down.  They  built 
their  own  tombs  in  such  enduring  fashion  that  we 
may  look  upon  them  to-day  as  they  were  when  these 
despots  completed  them.  Akbar,  Shah  Jehan,  Hu- 
mayan  and  Aurungzeb  each  ereded  scores  of  build- 
ings that  have  survived  the  ravages  of  time  and  the 
more  destrudlive  work  of  greedy  mercenaries  in 
time  of  war.  In  and  around  Delhi  are  scores  of  these 
tombs  in  various  stages  of  decay.  Those  which  have 
been  cared  for  are  splendid  specimens  of  the  best 
archite(5lure  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Indian  brick  is  the  cheapest  building  material  in 
the  world.  The  Indian  brick  of  to-day  looks  very 
much  like  the  cheapest  brick  used  in  American  cit- 
ies to  fill  in  the  inside  of  walls;  but  the  brick  made 
in  the  time  of  Shah  Jehan  and  Humayan  and  used 
by  them  was  a  flat  tile  brick,  hard  as  stone,  set  in 

[■'7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

mortar  that  has  resisted  the  elements  for  over  three 
hundred  years.  When  the  roofs  of  these  Moslem 
tombs  and  palaces  fell  in,  then  the  work  of  disinte- 
gration followed  rapidly.  The  plaster  scaled  off  the 
front  and  sides,  and  the  rows  on  rows  of  brick  were 
exposed;  but  it  is  astonishing  that  these  massive 
walls  have  not  crumbled  to  dust  in  all  these  years. 
In  most  cases  the  imposing  arched  doorways  of  red 
sandstone  have  survived.  These  doorways,  beauti- 
fully arched,  may  be  seen  on  both  sides  of  the  road 
leading  out  of  Delhi  to  the  old  city,  eleven  miles 
distant,  which  was  the  capital  of  the  Mogul  emperors 
until  Aurungzeb  moved  it  to  Delhi.  In  a  radius  of 
fifteen  miles  from  Delhi  tombs  and  palaces  that  cost 
hundreds  of  millions  of  rupees  were  built  by  these 
Moslem  despots  and  their  viceroys.  Most  of  them 
are  now  in  ruins,  but  from  the  top  of  the  Kutab 
Minar  one  may  count  a  score  of  tombs  with  their 
domes  and  cupolas  still  intad:.  Into  these  tombs 
was  poured  much  of  the  treasure  wrung  from  the 
poverty-stricken  Hindoo  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Few  sights  in  this  world  are  more  impressive  than 
this  birdseye  view  of  the  remains  of  the  Mogul  em- 
perors who  ruled  northern  Indiafor  over  three  cen- 
turies. In  one  of  the  poorest  and  the  most  densely 
populated  countries  of  the  world  these  despots  reared 
marvels  of  architedure  which  have  amazed  modern 
experts.  They  accomplished  these  wonders  in  stone 
mainly  because,  with  power  of  life  and  death,  they 
were  able  to  impress  thousands  of  coolies  and  force 
them  to  rear  the  walls  of  their  palaces  and  tombs. 
Building  materials  were  very  cheap,  so  that  most  of 
the  treasure  expended  by  these  rulers  went  into  the 
elaborate  ornamentation  of  walls  and  ceilings  with 
precious  stones  and  carved  ivory  and  marble.  No 
description  that  I  have  ever  read  gives  any  adequate 

[1 1 8] 


Delhi  and  Its  Ancient  Ruins 

idea  of  the  number  and  the  massiveness  of  these 
remains  of  bygone  imperial  splendor,  and  this  mag- 
nificence is  made  more  impressive  by  contrast  with 
the  squaHd  poverty  of  the  common  people-the  till- 
ers of  the  soil,  the  drawers  of  water,  who  live  in 
wretched  huts,  with  earthen  floors,  no  windows  and 
no  comforts.  These  dwellings  are  crowded  together 
in  small  villages;  the  family  cow  or  goat  occupies  a 
part  of  the  dwelling,  a  small  fire  gives  warmth  only 
to  one  standing  diredtly  over  it,  and  the  smoke  pours 
out  the  open  door  or  filters  through  holes  in  the 
thatched  roof. 

As  the  native  lived  three  hundred  years  ago  so 
does  he  live  to-day.  He  uses  kerosene  instead  of  the 
old  nut  or  fish  oil,  but  that  is  almost  the  only  change. 
In  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  in  all  kinds  of  man- 
ufacture the  same  methods  are  in  use  now  as  when  Ak- 
bar  wrested  North  Indiafrom  its  Hindoo  rulers.  The 
same  crude  bullock  carts  carry  produce  to  Delhi, 
with  wheels  that  have  felloes  a  foot  thick  and  only 
four  spokes.  Many  of  these  wheels  have  no  tires.  In 
some  cases  camels  supply  the  place  of  bullocks  as 
beasts  of  burden,  especially  in  the  dry  country  north 
of  Delhi.  The  coolie  draws  water  from  the  wells  for 
irrigation  just  as  his  ancestors  did  three  centuries 
ago.  He  uses  bullocks  on  an  arastra  that  turns  over 
a  big  wheel  with  a  chain  of  buckets.  On  small  farms 
this  work  is  done  by  men.  All  the  processes  of  irri- 
gation are  ancient  and  cumbersome  and  would  not 
be  tolerated  for  a  day  in  any  land  where  labor  is 
valuable. 

Delhi  is  very  rich  in  memorials  of  the  Mogul 
conquerors.  Near  the  Lahore  gate  is  the  palace,  one 
of  the  noblest  remains  of  the  Mohammedan  period. 
A  vaulted  arcade  leads  to  the  outer  court,  at  one  end 
of  which  is  a  splendid  band  gallery,  with  a  dado  of 

["9] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

red  sandstone,  finely  carved.  On  the  farther  side  is 
the  Dwan-i-'Am  or  Hall  of  Public  Audience,  with 
noble  arches  and  columns,  at  the  back  of  which,  in 
a  raised  recess,  the  emperor  sat  on  his  peacock 
throne,  formed  of  two  peacocks,  with  bodies  and 
wings  of  solid  gold  inlaid  with  rubies,  diamonds  and 
emeralds.  Over  it  was  a  canopy  of  gold  supported 
by  twelve  pillars,  all  richly  ornamented.  This  mag- 
nificent work  was  taken  away  by  Nadir  Pasha.  The 
palace  contains  many  other  beautiful  rooms,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  royal  apartments,  with 
a  marble  channel  in  the  floor,  through  which  rose- 
water  flowed  to  the  queen's  dressing-room  and  bath. 

The  most  notable  mosque  in  Delhi  is  the  Jama 
Mashid,  built  of  red  sandstone  and  white  marble. 
It  has  a  noble  entrance  and  a  great  quadrangle,  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  square, with  a  fountain 
in  the  center.  In  a  pavilion  in  one  corner  are  relics 
of  Mohammed,  shown  with  great  apparent  reverence 
to  the  skeptical  tourist.  Near  by  is  the  Kalar  Mas- 
jid  or  Black  Mosque,  built  in  the  style  of  the  early 
Arabian  architecture. 

Eleven  miles  from  Delhi  are  many  tombs  of  the 
Mogul  emperors,  including  the  Kutab  Minar  or  great 
column  of  red  sandstone,  with  a  fine  mosque  near  at 
hand.  Kutab  was  a  viceroy  when  he  began  this  splen- 
did column,  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  high, 
with  a  base  diameter  of  forty-seven  feet  three  inches. 
The  first  three  stories  are  of  red  sandstone  and  the 
two  upper  stories  are  faced  with  white  marble.  The 
summit,  which  is  reached  by  three  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  steps,  gives  a  superb  view  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  with  its  many  fine  Moslem  tombs. 

On  the  way  to  the  Kutab  Minar  a  number  of 
fine  Mohammedan  tombs  are  passed,  chief  of  which 
is  the  tomb  of  Emperor  Humayan,  one  of  the  great- 

[1 20] 


Delhi  and  Its  Ancient  Ruins 

est  of  the  Moslem  builders.  Of  all  the  buildings 
that  I  saw  in  India  this  approaches  most  closely  in 
beauty  the  incomparable  Taj  Mahal.  Of  red  sand- 
stone, with  white  marble  in  relief,  its  windows  are 
recessed  and  the  lower  doors  filled  in  with  stone  and 
marble  lattice  work  of  great  beauty.  The  tomb  is  an 
octagon  and  in  the  central  chamber  is  the  great  em- 
peror's cenotaph  of  plain  white  marble.  Not  far  away 
are  the  shrines  and  tombs  of  many  Mohammedan 
emperors  and  saints. 

Delhi  saw  some  of  the  fiercest  fighting  during  the 
mutiny.  The  rebellious  natives  drove  the  Europeans 
out  of  the  city,  slaughtering  those  who  were  unable 
to  escape.  Thousands  of  mutineers  also  flocked  to 
Delhi  from  Lucknow,  Cawnpore  and  other  places. 
General  Bernard,  in  command  of  the  English  troops 
that  came  from  Simla,  attacked  the  mutineers  on 
June  sixth  and  gained  an  important  vidory,  as  it 
gave  the  British  possession  of  "The  Ridge,"  a  lofty 
outcropping  of  ancient  rock,  which  was  admirably 
designed  for  defense  and  for  operations  against  the 
city.  Troops  were  posted  all  along  the  Ridge  and 
in  Hindoo  Rao's  house,  a  massive  building  belong- 
ing to  a  loyal  native.  This  building  was  the  center 
of  many  fierce  engagements,  but  it  was  not  until 
September  that  enough  troops  were  collected  to  make 
it  safe  to  assault  Delhi.  Brigadier-General  John 
Nicholson  had  arrived  from  the  Punjab  and  urged 
immediate  attack  on  the  city.  Nicholson  was  the 
greatest  man  the  mutiny  produced.  Tall,  magnetic, 
dominating,  he  enforced  his  will  upon  every  one. 
Even  Lord  Roberts,  who  was  then  a  young  subal- 
tern and  not  easily  impressed  by  rank  or  achieve- 
ment, records  that  he  never  spoke  to  Nicholson 
without  feeling  the  man's  enormous  will  power  and 
energy.  Finally,  on  September  thirteenth,  the  Brit- 

[121] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

ish  guns  having  made  breaches  in  the  city  walls,  two 
forces  (one  under  Nicholson,  the  other  under  Col- 
onel Herbert)  stormed  the  place.  The  Kabul  gate 
was  soon  taken,  but  the  defense  of  the  Lahore  gate 
proved  more  stubborn.  The  soldiers  wavered  under 
the  deadly  fire,  when  Nicholson  rushed  forward  to 
lead  them.  His  great  height  made  him  a  target  and 
he  fell,  shot  through  the  body.  A  whole  week  of 
severe  fighting  followed  before  every  portion  of  Del- 
hi was  captured.  Nicholson  died  three  days  after 
the  British  secured  complete  control  of  the  city.  His 
death  was  mourned  as  greatly  as  the  death  of  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence  at  Lucknow. 

The  Kashmir,  Kabul  and  Lahore  gates  at  Delhi 
are  interesting  because  they  were  the  scenes  of  many 
a(5ls  of  heroism  during  the  mutiny.  On  the  Ridge 
a  massive  but  ugly  stone  memorial  has  been  ere<5ted 
to  those  who  fell  in  the  mutiny.  The  position  is 
fine  but  the  monument,  like  all  the  other  memorials 
of  the  mutiny,  is  not  impressive  because  of  its  poor 
design.  Other  interesting  objeds  which  recall  inci- 
dents in  this  great  struggle  against  the  Sepoys  are 
suitably  inscribed. 


[122] 


Scenes  in 

Bombay  When  the  King 

Arrived 


THE  ancient  city  of  Bombay,  the  gateway  of 
India  and  the  largest  commercial  metropolis 
of  the  empire,  was  in  festival  garb  because 
of  the  visit  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  England.  Fully 
four  hundred  thousand  people  came  in  from  the  sur- 
rounding country  to  see  their  rulers  from  over  the 
sea  and  to  enjoy  the  novel  spedacle  of  illuminated 
buildings,  decorative  arches,  military  processions  and 
fireworks.  Hence  Bombay  was  seen  at  its  best  in 
its  strange  mixture  of  races  and  costumes.  In  this 
respeditis  more  Oriental  and  more  piduresque  than 
Singapore. 

The  first  thing  that  impresses  a  stranger  is  the 
number,  size  and  beauty  of  the  public  buildings. 
The  Town  Hall  looks  not  unlike  many  American 
city  strudlures-as  it  is  classic,  with  Doric  pillars  and 
an  imposing  flight  of  steps;  but  nearly  all  the  other 
buildings  are  of  Indian  architecture,  with  cupolas 
and  domes,  recessed  windows  and  massive,  pointed 
gateways.  They  are  built  of  a  dark  stone,  and  the 
walls  (three  and  four  feet  in  thickness)  seem  des- 
tined to  last  forever.  The  rooms  are  from  sixteen  to 
twenty  feet  in  height;  above  the  tall  doors  and  win- 
dows are  transoms;  the  floors  are  of  mosaic  or  stone; 
everything  about  the  buildings  appears  designed  to 
endure.  The  streets  are  very  wide  and  the  sidewalks 
are  arranged  under  colonnades  in  front  of  the  build- 


[123] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

ings,  so  that  one  may  walk  an  entire  block  without 
coming  out  into  the  fierce  Indian  sunshine. 

All  the  main  streets  converge  into  the  Apollo 
Bunder,  a  splendid  driveway  like  the  Maidan  in  Cal- 
cutta. It  sweeps  around  the  sea  wall  and  if  any  breeze 
is  stirring  in  Bombay  one  may  get  it  here  at  night- 
fall. From  six  o'clock  to  eight  thirty  or  nine  o'clock 
all  Bombay  turns  out  for  a  drive  on  the  Apollo 
Bunder.  The  line  of  fine  carriages  and  motor  cars 
is  continuous  for  miles,  going  out  the  Esplanade  to 
Queen's  road,  which  runs  for  five  miles  to  Malabar 
head,  the  favorite  residence  place  of  the  wealthy  for- 
eign colony.  What  will  astonish  any  one  accustomed 
to  Calcutta  and  other  East  Indian  cities  is  the  large 
representation  of  Parsee  families  in  this  evening 
dress  parade.  Two-thirds  of  the  finest  equipages  be- 
long to  the  Parsees,  who  are  very  richly  dressed  in 
silks  and  adorned  with  fortunes  in  diamonds,  rubies 
and  other  precious  stones.  Here  and  there  may  be 
distinguished  rich  Hindoos  or  Mohammedans  out 
for  an  airing.  The  women  of  the  latter  sed  are  con- 
cealed behind  the  carriage  covers,  but  the  Hindoo 
and  Parsee  women  show  their  faces,  their  jewelry 
and  their  beautiful  costumes  with  evident  pleasure. 
Nearly  all  these  women  wear  fortunes  in  diamonds 
in  their  ears  or  in  bracelets  on  their  arms.  In  no 
dress  parade  in  any  other  city  have  I  noted  so  many 
large  diamonds,  rubies  and  emeralds  as  in  this  pro- 
cession of  carriages  in  Bombay. 

Another  thing  that  impresses  the  stranger  in 
Bombay  is  the  sympathy  and  the  good  feeling  that 
seems  to  exist  between  the  leading  Europeans  of 
the  city  and  the  prominent  natives.  This  is  in  great 
contrast  to  the  exclusiveness  that  marks  the  Briton 
in  other  East  Indian  cities.  Here  the  President  and 
a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Municipal  Coun- 

[124] 


Bombay  When  the  King  Arrived 

cil  are  Parsees;  while  a  number  of  Hindoos  and  Mo- 
hammedans are  represented.  When  the  King  and 
Queen  of  England  were  received,  the  address  of  wel- 
come was  read  by  the  Parsee  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil, while  a  bouquet  was  presented  to  the  Queen  by 
the  President's  wife,  dressed  in  her  graceful  sari  or 
robe  of  ecru  silk,  edged  with  a  black  border,  heavy 
with  ornamental  gold  work.  This  mingling  of  the 
races  in  civic  life  is  due  to  the  domination  of  the 
Parsee  element,  which  came  over  to  Bombay  from 
Persia  three  hundred  years  ago,  when  driven  from 
their  old  homes  by  Moslem  intolerance.  Here  these 
people,  who  strongly  resemble  the  Jews  in  their 
fondness  for  trade  and  their  skill  in  finance,  have 
amassed  imperial  fortunes.  The  richest  of  these  Par- 
see  bankers  and  merchants.  Sir  Jamsetjee  Jeejee- 
bhoy,  left  much  of  his  great  fortune  to  charity.  He 
founded  a  university,  schools  and  hospitals  and  his 
name  figures  on  a  dozen  fine  buildings.  Other  prom- 
inent Parsee  families  are  the  Sassoons  and  Jehangirs. 
Yet,  despite  their  wealth  and  their  association 
with  Europeans,  the  Parsees  have  kept  themselves 
unspotted  from  the  world.  They  do  not  recognize 
any  mingling  of  their  blood  with  the  foreigner.  A 
Parsee  who  marries  a  European  woman  must  accept 
virtual  expatriation,  while  the  wife  (although  she  may 
bear  him  children)  is  never  allowed  any  of  the  priv- 
ileges of  a  native  woman  in  this  life  and  when  she 
dies  her  body  cannot  be  consigned  to  the  Parsee 
burial  place.  She  is  always  an  alien  and  nothing  that 
she  can  do  is  able  to  break  down  this  racial  wall 
that  separates  her  from  her  husband's  people.  The 
marriage  of  Parsee  women  to  foreigners  is  pradically 
unknown.  The  Parsee  wears  a  distin<ftive  costume. 
The  men  dress  in  white  linen  or  pongee  trousers, 
with  coat  of  dark  woolen  or  alpaca;  they  like  foreign 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

shirts  and  collars,  but  their  headgear  is  the  same  as 
that  used  by  the  refugees  from  Persia  over  three 
hundred  years  ago.  One  cap  is  of  lacquered  papier- 
mache  in  the  form  of  a  cow's  hoof  inverted.  Another 
is  a  round  cap  of  gray  cloth,  finely  made,  worn  over 
a  skull  cap  of  velvet  or  embroidered  cloth,  which  is 
worn  indoors.  The  women  wear  the  sari  or  robe, 
which  consists  of  one  piece  of  silk  or  brocade,  with 
an  embroidered  band.  This  garment  is  draped  around 
the  body  and  brought  up  over  the  head,  covering 
the  right  ear.  They  all  wear  shoes  and  stockings. 

The  Parsees  are  all  well  educated  and  most  of 
them  possess  unusual  refinement.  So  strong  is  the 
pride  of  race  among  them  that  they  do  not  tolerate 
any  mendicancy  among  their  own  people.  Their 
charitable  associations  care  for  the  few  Parsees  who 
are  unable  to  make  a  living,  so  that  their  paupers 
never  make  any  claim  upon  the  municipal  govern- 
ment for  aid.  They  also  boast  that  none  of  their 
women  may  be  found  among  the  denizens  of  the  red- 
light  district.  Most  of  the  educated  Parsees  speak 
English,  French  and  German,  besides  Gugerati  (the 
native  dialed)  and  most  of  them  read  and  write  Eng- 
lish, Gugerati  and  Urdu,  which  is  the  written  form 
of  Hindustani.  Yet  the  Parsees  are  genuine  Orien- 
tals. They  sit  on  chairs,  but  most  of  their  houses 
are  scantily  furnished.  They  are  remarkably  fond  of 
sweets,  fruits  and  nuts.  They  seem  insensible  to  the 
surroundings  of  their  homes,  many  living  in  crowded 
streets  and  up  many  flights  of  stairs.  In  their  homes 
all  their  treasures  are  kept  in  the  family  safe.  If  you 
are  fortunate  enough  to  be  received  in  one  of  these 
Parsee  homes  you  will  be  amazed  at  the  wealth  in 
jewelry  and  personal  ornaments  which  are  possessed 
even  by  families  of  modest  fortune.  A  Parsee  woman 
of  this  class  will  have  invested  five  thousand  dol- 

[126] 


> 

W3  J2 


^  <g  c  ft  H  - 


Hi  O 


O   "   3   5"  S"  <»   2 


5-  ft- 


•  < 


sa 


a  s. 


Bombay  When  the  King  Arrived 

lars  in  jewelry,  much  of  which  she  will  wear  on  fes- 
tive occasions. 

Many  of  the  big  shipping  and  cotton  merchants 
of  Bombay  are  Parsees  and  they  also  control  much 
of  the  banking  of  the  city.  It  was  due  largely  to  the 
liberality  of  the  Parsees  that  the  city  of  Bombay  was 
able  to  present  to  the  King  a  memorial  in  gold 
and  silver  that  cost  seventeen  thousand  rupees,  or 
over  five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  American 
money.  This  reception  to  the  King  and  Queen  when 
they  landed  at  Bombay  on  their  way  to  Delhi  Dur- 
bar was  very  typical  of  the  life  of  the  city.  Remark- 
able preparations  had  been  made;  a  series  of  arches 
spanned  the  principal  streets,  all  designed  in  native 
style.  At  the  end  of  the  Apollo  Bunder  was  eredled 
a  pretty,  white  pavilion  that  looked  like  a  miniature 
Taj,  while  a  splendid  avenue,  lined  with  pillars,  led 
up  to  the  great  amphitheater,  in  front  of  which,  under 
an  ornate  pavilion,  were  the  golden  thrones  of  the 
King  and  Queen.  This  'amphitheater  was  reserved 
for  all  the  European  and  native  notables,  as  well 
as  the  Maharajahs  and  chiefs  from  the  neighboring 
States. 

After  the  reception  to  the  royal  party  came  a 
parade  through  the  principal  streets  and  when  this 
was  concluded  all  restridions  were  relaxed  and  the 
populace  and  the  visitors  from  surrounding  towns 
gave  themselves  up  to  an  evening  of  enjoyment. 
The  buildings  were  illuminated,  some  with  white 
and  others  with  red  eleftric  lights,  while  many  large 
structures  were  lighted  by  little  oil  lamps,  in  a  cup 
or  glass.  The  main  streets  were  filled  with  long  lines 
of  carriages,  crowded  with  richly  dressed  natives  and 
Europeans,  although  the  natives  outnumbered  the 
foreigners  by  one  hundred  to  one.  Never  in  my  life 
have  I  seen  so  many  valuable  jewels  as  on  this  night, 

[127] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

when  I  roamed  about  the  streets  for  two  hours,  en- 
joying this  Oriental  holiday.  At  times  I  would  stop 
and  sit  on  one  of  the  stands  and  watch  the  crowd 
flow  by  in  a  steady  stream.  Walking  by  the  side  of 
a  Parsee  millionaire  and  his  richly  dressed  family 
would  pass  a  Hindoo  woman  of  low  caste,  one  of  the 
street  sweepers,  in  dirty  rags,  but  loaded  down  on 
ankles  and  arms  by  heavy  silver  bangles  and  painted 
in  the  center  of  the  forehead  with  her  caste  mark. 
She  was  followed  by  a  poverty-stricken  Moham- 
medan leading  a  little  boy,  stark  naked,  while  a  girl 
with  brilliant  cap  held  the  boy's  hand.  A  naked 
Tamil,  with  only  a  dirty  loin  cloth,  brushed  elbows 
with  three  Parsee  girls,  beautifully  dressed.  And  so 
this  purely  democratic  human  tide  flowed  on  for 
hours,  rich  and  poor  showing  a  childlike  pleasure  in 
the  street  decorations  and  the  variegated  crowd.  And 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  turmoil  native  parties  from 
out  of  town  squatted  on  the  deserted  tiers  of  seats, 
ate  their  suppers  with  relish  and  then  calmly  com- 
posed themselves  to  sleep,  wrapped  in  their  robes, 
as  though  they  were  in  the  privacy  of  their  own 
homes.  It  was  a  spedacle  such  as  could  be  seen  only 
in  an  Oriental  city  with  a  people  who  live  in  public 
with  the  placid  unconsciousness  of  animals. 


[128] 


Religion  and 
Customs  of  the  Bombay 

Parsees 


THE  Parsees  of  Bombay— a  mere  handful  of 
exiles  among  millions  of  aliens— have  so  ex- 
erted their  power  as  to  change  the  life  of  a 
great  city.  Proscribed  and  persecuted,  they  have 
developed  so  powerfully  their  aptitude  for  commer- 
cial life  that  they  represent  the  wealth  of  Bombay. 
Living  up  to  the  tenets  of  their  creed,  they  have 
given  far  more  liberally  to  charity  and  education  than 
any  other  race.  Some  idea  of  the  respedt  in  which 
the  Parsee  is  held  may  be  gained  from  the  fad:  that 
customs  officers  never  search  the  baggage  of  one  of 
these  people;  they  take  the  Parsee's  word  that  he 
has  no  dutiable  goods.  The  commercial  success  and 
the  high  level  of  private  life  among  the  Parsees  is 
due  diredly  to  their  religion,  which  was  founded  by 
Zoroaster  in  ancient  Persia  three  thousand  years  ago. 
As  Max-Muller  has  well  said,  if  Darius  had  over- 
thrown Alexander  of  Greece,the  modern  world  would 
probably  have  inherited  the  faith  of  Zoroaster,  which 
does  not  differ  in  most  of  its  essentials  from  the 
creed  of  Christ. 

The  popular  idea  of  a  Parsee  is  that  he  worships 
the  sun.  This  is  a  misconception,  due  probably  to 
the  fad  that  the  Parsee  when  saying  his  prayers  al- 
ways faces  the  sun  or,  in  default  of  this,  prays  before 
a  sacred  fire  in  his  temples;  but  he  does  not  worship 
the  sun,  nor  any  gods  or  idols.  His  temples  are  bare. 


[129] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

only  the  sacred  fire  of  sandalwood  burning  in  one 
corner.  The  Parsee  recognizes  an  overruling  god, 
Ahura-Mazda,  the  creator  of  the  universe;  he  be- 
lieves that  Nature  with  its  remarkable  laws  could  not 
have  come  into  being  without  a  great  first  cause. 
But  he  believes  that  the  universe  created  by  Ahura- 
Mazda  was  invaded  by  a  spirit  of  evil,  Angra-Main- 
yush,  which  invites  men  to  wicked  deeds,  falsehood 
and  ignorance.  Over  against  this  evil  spirit  is  the 
good  spirit,  Spenta-Mainyush,  which  represents  God 
and  stands  for  truth,  goodness  and  knowledge.  The 
incarnation  of  the  evil  spirit  is  known  as  Aherman, 
who  corresponds  to  the  Christian  devil. 

The  whole  Parsee  creed  is  summed  up  in  three 
words,  which  correspond  to  good  thoughts,  good 
words  and  good  deeds.  If  one  carries  out  in  his  life 
this  creed,  then  his  good  thoughts,  good  words  and 
good  deeds  will  be  his  intercessors  on  the  great  bridge 
that  leads  the  spirit  from  death  to  the  gates  of  para- 
dise. If  his  evil  deeds  and  thoughts  and  words  over- 
balance the  good,  then  he  goes  straight  down  to  the 
place  of  darkness  and  torment.  If  his  good  and  evil 
deeds  and  thoughts  exadly  balance,  then  he  passes 
into  a  kind  of  purgatory. 

Fire,  water  and  earth  are  all  sacred  to  the  Par- 
see;  but  fire  represents  the  principle  of  creation  and 
hence  is  most  sacred.  To  him  fire  is  the  most  per- 
feft  symbol  of  deity  because  of  its  purity,  brightness 
and  incorruptibility.  The  sacred  fire  that  burns  con- 
stantly in  the  Parsee  temples  is  fed  with  chips  of 
sandalwood.  Prayer  with  the  Parsee  is  obligatory, 
but  it  need  not  be  said  in  the  fire  temple;  the  Par- 
see  may  pray  to  the  sun  or  moon,  the  mountains  or 
the  sea.  His  prayer  is  first  repentance  for  any  evil 
thoughts  or  deeds  and  then  for  strength  to  lead  a 
life  of  righteousness,  charity  and  good  deeds. 

[130] 


Customs  of  the  Bombay  Parsees 

The  most  remarkable  result  of  the  Parsee  relig- 
ion is  seen  in  the  education  of  children.  This  is 
made  a  religious  duty,  and  negled:  of  it  entails  ter- 
rible penalties-for  the  parents  are  responsible  for 
the  offenses  of  the  badly-educated  child,  just  as  they 
share  in  the  merit  for  good  deeds  performed  by  their 
children.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  good  Parsee  not  only 
to  educate  his  own  children  but  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  help  in  general  education.  Hence  the  large  bene- 
facftions  that  rich  Parsees  have  made  to  found  insti- 
tutions for  the  education  of  the  poor.  Disobedience 
of  children  is  one  of  the  worst  sins.  The  Parsees  are 
also  taught  to  observe  sanitary  laws,  to  bathe  fre- 
quently, to  take  all  measures  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  contagion.  Cleanliness  is  one  of  the  chief  virtues. 
To  keep  the  earth  pure  the  Parsee  is  enjoined  to 
cultivate  it.  He  is  also  admonished  to  drink  spar- 
ingly of  wine  and  not  to  sell  it  to  any  one  who  uses 
liquor  to  excess. 

The  Parsee  creed  urges  the  believer  to  help  the 
community  in  which  he  lives  and  to  give  freely  to 
charity.  Sir  Jamsetjee  Jeejeebhoy,  the  richest  Par- 
see  Bombay  has  known,  set  aside  a  fund  of  four 
million  seven  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand 
rupees  for  charity  and  benevolence  among  all  the 
people  of  his  city,  regardless  of  race  or  creed.  The 
Parsee  gives  liberally  to  charity  on  the  occasion  of 
weddings  or  of  deaths.  The  charity  includes  reliev- 
ing the  poor,  helping  a  man  to  marry  and  aiding 
poor  children  to  secure  an  education.  The  influence 
of  the  Parsee  religion  upon  the  literature  and  life  of 
the  people  is  very  marked.  There  is  no  room  for 
atheism,  agnosticism  or  materialism.  Faith  in  the 
existence  of  God  and  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
is  the  corner-stone  of  the  creed,  but  the  Parsee 
spends  no  money  and  no  eflfort  in  proselyting  others. 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

Marriage  is  encouraged  by  the  Parsec  religion, 
because  it  encourages  a  virtuous  and  religious  life. 
The  marriage  ceremony  is  peculiar,  1 1  is  always  per- 
formed in  a  large  pavilion,  whatever  the  wealth  of 
the  couple.  In  the  case  of  the  rich  many  invitations 
are  issued  and  a  fine  wedding  feast  is  spread.  On  the 
day  set  for  the  wedding,  the  bride  and  groom  and 
the  invited  guests  assemble  in  the  pavilion.  The 
bride  as  well  as  the  groom  is  dressed  in  white.  When 
the  time  comes  for  the  ceremony  the  couple  sit  in 
chairs  facing  each  other  and  a  sheet  is  held  up  be- 
tween them  by  friends,  so  that  they  cannot  see  each 
other.  Then  two  priests  begin  intoning  the  marriage 
service.  After  several  prayers  a  cord  is  wound  around 
the  two  chairs  seven  times  and  the  chairs  are  also 
bound  together  with  a  strip  of  cloth.  More  prayers 
and  exhortations  follow,  both  priests  showering  rice 
upon  the  couple.  Finally  the  sheet  is  withdrawn, 
they  and  their  chairs  are  placed  side  by  side,  each  is 
given  a  cocoanut  to  hold  that  is  bound  to  the  other 
by  a  string,  emblematic  of  the  plenty  that  may  bless 
the  new  home,  and  they  are  declared  man  and  wife. 
Then  they  sign  a  document  certifying  that  they  have 
been  united  according  to  the  Parsee  ritual  and  wit- 
nesses sign  their  names. 

Far  stranger  than  the  wedding  customs  of  the 
Parsees  are  their  burial  rites.  They  believe  that 
neither  fire,  earth  nor  water  must  be  polluted  by 
contad  with  a  dead  body,  so  neither  burial  nor  cre- 
mation is  permitted.  Instead,  they  expose  their 
dead  to  vultures  which  strip  the  flesh  from  the 
bones  within  an  hour.  This  occurs  in  conical  places, 
called  towers  of  silence,  which  are  shut  off  from 
human  gaze.  The  Bombay  towers  of  silence  are  on 
Malabar  head,  a  beautiful  residence  distridt  over- 
looking the  city.  Here,  in  a  fine  garden  planted  to 

[132] 


Customs  of  the  Bombay  Parsees 

many  varieties  of  trees  and  shrubs,  arc  five  circular 
towers,  each  about  twenty  feet  high,  made  of  brick, 
covered  with  plaster. 

While  you  are  admiring  the  flowers  and  trees  a 
funeral  enters  the  gates.  The  body  is  carried  by  four 
professional  bearers  and  is  followed  by  two  priests 
and  the  relatives  and  friends.  All  the  mourners  are 
clothed  in  white.  They  walk  two  by  two,  no  matter 
how  distant  may  be  the  house  of  death,  each  couple 
holding  a  handkerchief  as  a  symbol  of  their  union  in 
sorrow.  When  the  procession  reaches  the  top  of  the 
hill  the  mourners  diverge  and  take  seats  in  the  house 
of  prayer,  where  the  sacred  fire  is  burning,  or  they 
seat  themselves  in  the  beautiful  garden  for  meditation 
and  prayer.  The  priests  deliver  the  body  to  the  two 
corpse  bearers,  who  throw  open  the  great  iron  door 
and  enter  with  the  body.  The  floor  of  the  tower  is  of 
iron  grating,  arranged  in  three  circles— the  outer  for 
men,  the  next  for  women  and  the  inner  for  children. 
As  the  bearers  lay  the  body  down,  they  strip  off  the 
shroud.  Then  the  iron  door  closes  with  a  clang. 
This  is  the  signal  for  a  score  of  vultures  to  swoop 
down  upon  the  body.  No  human  eye  can  see  this 
spectacle,  but  the  imagination  of  the  visitor  pi<5tures 
it  in  all  its  horror.  Within  a  few  minutes  the  gorged 
vultures  begin  flapping  their  way  to  the  top  of  the 
tower,  where  they  roost  on  the  outer  rim. 

The  bones  of  the  corpse  are  allowed  to  remain 
for  several  days  exposed  to  the  fierce  sun.  Then 
they  are  thrown  into  a  great  central  well,  where  the 
climate  soon  converts  them  into  dust.  This  is  washed 
by  the  rains  into  underground  wells.  Charcoal  in 
these  wells  serves  to  filter  the  rain  water  before  it 
enters  the  ground.  Thus  do  the  Parsees  preserve 
even  the  earth  from  contamination  by  the  ashes  of 
the  dead.    No  expense  is  spared  by  the  Parsees  in 

[133] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

the  construdiion  of  these  towers  of  silence,which  are 
always  placed  on  the  tops  of  hills.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  some  of  the  ablest  medical  men  of 
England  and  America,  who  have  examined  these 
burial  grounds,  the  Parsee  method  of  disposing  of 
the  dead  is  the  most  sanitary  that  has  ever  been  de- 
vised. It  avoids  even  the  fumes  that  are  given  off 
in  cremation  of  the  dead.  It  is  also  cheap  and  abso- 
lutely democratic,  as  the  bones  of  the  rich  and  poor 
mingle  at  last  in  the  well  of  the  tower  of  silence. 

There  is  nothing  offensive  to  European  taste  in 
the  towers  of  silence  except  the  vultures.  These  dis- 
gusting birds,  like  the  Indian  crow,  are  protefted 
because  they  are  admirable  scavengers.  The  Parsees 
see  nothing  offensive  in  exposing  their  dead  to  these 
birds  nor  apparently  does  it  shock  them  that  alien 
hands  should  bare  the  bodies  of  their  beloved  dead; 
but  to  a  foreigner  both  these  aspeds  of  Parsee  bur- 
ial are  repellant  and  no  argument  has  any  weight  to 
counteradl  this  sentiment. 

Many  sensational  accounts  of  these  Parsee  bur- 
ial rites  have  been  printed.  Nearly  every  writer  lays 
stress  on  the  fad  that  pieces  of  the  dead  bodies  are 
dropped  by  the  vultures  within  the  grounds  or  in 
the  streets  outside.  This  is  an  absurdity,  as  the 
vulture  never  rises  on  the  wing  with  any  carrion- 
he  eats  it  on  the  spot  and  he  will  not  leave  until 
he  is  gorged  to  repletion.  An  effort  was  made  sev- 
eral years  ago  to  remove  these  towers  of  silence  on 
Malabar  hill  because  of  complaints  that  fragments 
of  corpses  were  found  in  the  neighborhood.  When 
two  competent  medical  experts  investigated  the 
matter  they  reported  that  there  was  no  foundation 
for  the  complaints.  So  the  towers  have  remained 
and  thousands  of  Parsees  have  been  borne  to  them 
for  the  last  rites  of  their  creed. 

[134] 


PLATE   XLI 

One  of  the  Main  Gates  to  Government 

House,  Calcutta.     This  Gate  it  of  Beautiful  Proportiont 

and  Has  a  Fine  Lion.    Government  House  is 

Situated  in  a  Fine  Park  of  Six  Acres 


2  s  "^    <*-  s  '^  r^  ,i3  "^  "2  e  a. 


PLATE   XLIII 

The  Great  Burning  Ghat  at  Benares. 
Here  Are  Four  Funeral  Pyre«  Arranged  for  Burning,  the 
Heads  of  the  Corpses  May  Be  Dete£M  Among  the 
Wood.    The   Pyre   in   the  Middle  Foreground  is 
Partly  Burned.     Relatives  Watch  the  Crema- 
tion From  the  Temple  Above 


>  -s* 

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V    n 


PLATE   XLIX 

Detail  of  Carving  in  the  Jasmine  Tower,  Agra. 

This  View  Gives  a  Good  Idea  of  the  Wonderful  Work 

in  Marble  Carving  and  the  Inlaying  of  Precious 

Stones,  Which  Makes  This  Little  Pavilion 

a  Rival  of  the  Taj 


o  ^ 
bu    u 


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21- 


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5  B 


^      X 


PLATE  LIU 
Kutab  Minar,  the  Arch  and  the  Iron  Pillar,  near  Delhi. 
The  Arch  Formed  Part  of  a  Mos<]ue  built  by  Kutab,  a  Viceroy, 
in  1 193  A.  D.    The  Pil!ar  Stood  in  the  Mosque  and  is  of 
Wrought  Iron,  Twenty-three  Feet  High.     The  Monu- 
ment i«  Two  Hundred  and  Thirty-eight  Feet  High 
With  Three  Hundred  and  Seventy-nine  Steps 


=  I 


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.",  * 


O   ^        tto  S   £   i 

«  ^  -g  .S -C  i^  O  "^ 

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2    J)    O    O    4^ 


y  S-^^-S-S 


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EGYPT,  THE  HOME 

OF  HIEROGLYPHS,  TOMBS 

AND  MUMMIES 


Picturesque 

Oriental  Life  as  Seen  in 

Cairo 


THE  first  impression  of  Cairo  is  bewildering. 
None  of  the  Oriental  cities  east  of  Port  Said 
is  at  all  like  it  in  appearance  or  in  street  life. 
The  color,  the  life,  the  pidturesqueness,  the  noises, 
all  these  are  distindive.  Kyoto,Manila,Hongkong, 
Singapore,  Rangoon,  Calcutta,  Bombay  and  Co- 
lombo-each has  marked  traits  that  differentiate  it 
from  all  other  cities,  but  several  have  marked  like- 
nesses. Cairo  differs  from  all  these  in  having  no 
traits  in  common  with  any  of  them.  It  stands  alone 
as  the  most  kaleidoscopic  of  cities,  the  most  bizarre 
in  its  mingling  of  the  Orient  and  the  Occident. 

Ismail  Pasha,  who  loved  to  ape  the  customs  of 
the  foreigner,  made  a  deliberate  attempt  to  convert 
Cairo  into  a  second  Paris,  by  cutting  great  avenues 
through  the  narrow,  squalid  streets  of  the  old  city, 
but  Ismail  simply  transformed  a  certain  quarter  of 
the  place  and  spoiled  its  native  charader.  What  he 
could  not  do,  fortunately,  was  to  rob  the  Egyptian 
of  his  piduresqueness  or  make  the  chief  city  of 
Elgypt  other  than  a  great  colledion  of  Oriental  bazars 
and  outdoor  coffee  shops,  as  full  of  the  spirit  of  the 
East  as  the  camel  or  the  Bedouin  of  the  desert. 

The  ride  from  Port  Said  to  Cairo  on  the  train, 
which  consumes  four  hours,  is  interesting  mainly  as 
a  revelation  of  what  the  Nile  means  to  these  people, 
who  without  its  life-giving  water  would  be  unable  to 


[137] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

grow  enough  to  live  on.  With  abundant  irrigation 
this  Nile  delta  is  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the 
earth. 

The  villages  that  we  pass  remind  one  somewhat 
of  old  Indian  villages  on  the  fringe  of  the  desert  in 
California  and  Arizona— the  same  walls  of  sun-baked 
adobe;  the  roofs  of  any  refuse  from  tree  pruning; 
the  goats  and  chickens  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the 
single  living-room.  But  the  people  are  not  of  the 
Western  world.  Dressed  in  voluminous  black  or  blue 
cotton  robes,  which  are  pulled  up  over  their  heads 
to  protedl  them  from  the  keen  wind  of  winter,  they 
belong  to  the  land  as  absolutely  as  the  tawny,  dust- 
colored  camel.  The  dress  of  the  women  appears  to 
differ  very  little  from  that  of  the  men,  but  always  the 
women  gather  a  loose  fold  of  their  dress  and  bring 
it  over  the  head,  thus  partially  concealing  the  face. 
Men,  women  and  children,  all  in  bare  feet,  squat  in 
the  sand  or  sit  hunched  up  against  the  sunny  side 
of  their  houses.  Beyond  any  other  Orientals  I  have 
seen,  these  Egyptians  have  the  capacity  for  unlim- 
ited loafing  under  circumstances  that  would  drive  an 
American  insane  in  a  few  hours.  Flies  swarm  over 
them;  passing  donkeys  or  camels  powder  them  with 
dust;  the  fierce  sun  beats  down  on  their  heads;  but 
all  these  things  they  accept  philosophically  as  an  inev- 
itable part  of  life,  as  something  decreed  by  fate  which 
it  would  be  useless  and  senseless  to  change. 

The  first  walk  down  the  Street  of  the  Camel  in 
Cairo  is  one  not  soon  forgotten.  Before  you  are  clear 
of  the  hotel  steps  an  Arab  in  a  sweater  and  loose 
skirt,  something  like  the  Malay  sarong,  rushes  up 
and  shouts:  "The  latest  NewYork  H erald;  just  came 
this  morning!"  Although  you  tell  him  "no"  and 
shake  your  head,  he  follows  you  for  half  a  block. 
Meanwhile  you  are  badgered  by  dealers  in  scarabs, 

[138] 


Oriental  Life  as  Seen  in  Cairo 

beads,  stamps,  postal  cards,  silver  shawls  and  various 
curios,  who  dog  your  heels,  and,  when  you  finally 
lose  your  temper,  retaliate  by  shouting:  "Yankee!" 
through  their  noses.  These  street  peddlers  are  won- 
derfully keen  judges  of  nationality  and  they  manage 
to  make  life  a  burden  to  the  American  tourist  by 
their  unwearied  and  smiling  persistence.  This  is  due 
in  great  part  to  the  foolish  liberality  of  American 
travelers,  who  are  inclined  to  accept  the  first  price 
oflfered,  although  with  an  Egyptian  or  an  Arab  this 
is  usually  twice  or  three  times  what  he  finally  agrees 
to  take. 

Custom  and  habit  probably  blunt  one's  sensibil- 
ities in  time,  but  this  constant  annoyance  by  peddlers 
detrads  much  from  the  pleasure  of  any  stroll  through 
Cairo  streets.  To  the  new  arrival  everything  is  novel 
and  attradive.  The  main  avenues  are  wide,well  paved 
and  lined  with  spacious  sidewalks, but  here  the  Euro- 
pean touch  ends.  After  passing  some  fine  shops, 
their  windows  filled  with  costly  goods  from  all  parts 
of  Egypt  and  the  Soudan,  one  comes  upon  one  of  the 
great  cafes  that  form  a  distinctive  feature  of  Cairo 
street  life.  Here  the  sidewalk  is  half  filled  with  small 
tables,  about  which  are  grouped  Egyptians  and  for- 
eigners drinking  the  sweet  Turkish  coffee  that  is 
served  here  at  all  hours  of  the  day. 

Many  of  these  Egyptians  are  in  European  dress, 
their  swarthy  faces  and  the  red  fez  alone  showing 
their  nationality.  The  young  men  are  remarkably 
handsome,  with  fine,  regular  features,  large,  brilliant 
black  eyes  and  straight,  heavy  eyebrows  that  fre- 
quently meet  over  the  nose.  Their  faces  beam  with 
good  nature  and  they  evidently  regard  the  frequent 
enjoyment  of  coffee  and  cigarettes  as  among  the  real 
pleasures  of  life.  But  the  older  men  all  show  traces 
of  this  life  of  ease  and  self-indulgence.  It  is  seldom 

[139] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

that  one  sees  a  man  beyond  fifty  with  a  strong  face. 
The  Egyptian  over  forty  loses  his  fine  figure,  he  lays 
on  abundant  flesh,  his  jowl  is  heavy  and  his  whole 
face  suggests  satiety  and  the  loss  of  that  pleasure  in 
mere  existence  that  makes  the  youth  so  attradive. 

Walking  down  this  main  artery  of  Cairo  life  one 
sees  on  the  left  a  large  park  surrounded  by  a  high 
iron  fence.  This  is  the  Esbekiyeh  Gardens,  which 
cover  twenty  acres,  and  are  planted  to  many  choice 
trees  and  shrubs.  They  contain  cafes,  a  restaurant 
and  a  theater,  and  on  several  evenings  in  the  week 
military  and  Egyptian  bands  alternate  in  playing 
foreign  music.  Beyond  the  gardens  is  an  imposing 
opera  house,  with  a  small  square  in  front,  ornamented 
with  an  impressive  equestrian  statue  of  old  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  one  of  the  few  good  fighters  that  Egypt  has 
produced.  From  the  opera  house  radiate  many 
streets,  some  leading  to  the  new  Europeanized 
quarters,  with  noble  residences  and  great  apartment 
houses;  others  taking  one  diredlly  to  the  bazars  and 
narrow  streets  that  give  a  good  idea  of  Cairo  as  it 
existed  before  the  foreigner  came  to  change  its  life. 

Although  the  modern  tram  car  clangs  its  way 
through  these  native  streets,  it  is  about  the  only  for- 
eign touch  that  can  be  seen.  Everything  else  is  dis- 
tindively  Oriental.  It  is  difficult  to  give  any  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  narrowness  of  these  streets  or  of  the 
amount  of  life  that  is  crowded  into  them.  As  in  many 
cities  of  India,  all  the  work  of  the  shops  goes  on  in 
plain  view  from  the  street.  The  shops  themselves 
are  mere  cubicles,  from  eight  to  ten  feet  wide  and 
seldom  more  than  from  six  to  eight  feet  deep.  In 
certain  streets  the  makers  of  shoes  and  slippers  are 
massed  in  solid  rows;  then  come  the  workers  in  brass 
and  metals;  then  the  jewelers,  and  following  these 
may  be  dealers  in  shawls  and  in  curios  of  various 

[140] 


Oriental  Life  as  Seen  in  Cairo 

kinds.  The  native  shopkeeper  sits  cross-legged 
amid  his  stock  and,  although  he  shows  great  keen- 
ness in  getting  you  to  examine  his  wares,  he  never 
reveals  any  haste  in  closing  a  bargain. 

Shopping  in  this  native  quarter  and  in  the  great 
Muski  bazar  that  adjoins  it  is  a  constant  source  of 
amusement  to  the  foreign  woman  who  has  a  fond- 
ness for  bargaining.  These  Arabs  and  Egyptians 
never  expedt  one  to  give  more  than  half  what  is  de- 
manded, except  in  the  case  of  a  few  large  shops  in 
which  the  price  is  marked.  If  one  of  the  silver  shawls 
made  at  Assiut  attrads  a  lady's  attention  and  the 
polite  shopkeeper  demands  five  pounds  sterling,  she 
may  safely  offer  him  two  pounds,  and  then,  after 
haggling  for  a  half  hour,  she  will  probably  become  the 
possessor  of  the  shawl  for  two  pounds  ten  shillings. 
Of  one  thing  the  traveler  may  be  sure:  he  will  never 
get  any  article  from  an  Egyptian  on  which  the  shop- 
keeper cannot  make  a  small  profit. 

The  Muski  bazar  is  about  a  mile  long  and,  al- 
though many  European  shops  line  it,  the  street  still 
retains  its  Oriental  attractiveness.  Branching  oflFfrom 
it  are  many  narrow  streets  crowded  with  shops  on 
both  sides.  Here  may  be  seen  the  real  life  of  Old 
Cairo,  unhampered  by  any  foreign  innovations.  The 
street  is  not  more  than  twelve  feet  wide  and  above 
the  first  floor  of  the  houses  projedling  latticed  win- 
dows and  open  balconies  reduce  this  width  to  three 
or  four  feet.  Looking  up  one  sees  only  a  narrow  slit 
of  blue  sky,  against  which  are  outlined  several  tiers 
of  latticed  windows.  From  these  the  harem  women 
look  down  upon  the  street  life  in  which  they  can 
have  no  real  part.  Peeping  over  the  balconies  may 
be  seen  black  eyes  that  gleam  above  the  yashmak  or 
Oriental  veil  worn  by  the  poorer  classes.  This  veil 
covers  the  face  almost  to  the  eyes  and  it  is  held  in 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

place  by  a  curious  bit  of  bamboo  that  comes  down 
over  the  forehead  to  the  nose.  The  women  of  the 
better  class  do  not  wear  this  ugly  yashmak,  but  con- 
tent themselves  with  a  white  silk  veil  that  is  stretched 
across  the  lower  part  of  the  face,  leaving  the  eyes 
and  a  part  of  the  nose  uncovered. 

No  visit  to  Cairo  is  complete  without  a  sight  of 
Old  Cairo,  with  its  bazars.  This  is  a  quarter  of  the 
city  that  remains  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  Caliphs. 
It  is  inhabited  mainly  by  Copts  and  among  the  mean 
houses,  built  of  sun-dried  bricks,  may  be  traced  part 
of  the  old  Roman  wall  that  encircled  this  suburb, 
then  known  as  Babylon.  The  houses  are  mainly  of 
two  or  three  stories,  but  the  streets  are  so  narrow 
that  two  people  on  opposite  sides  may  easily  join 
hands  by  leaning  out  of  their  windows.  Many  or  the 
antique  doors  of  oak,  studded  with  great  wrought- 
iron  nails,  still  remain.  Here  is  the  old  church  of 
St.  Sergius,  which  is  said  to  antedate  the  Moslem 
conquest.  In  the  ancient  crypt  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
the  Child  are  said  to  have  sought  shelter  after  their 
flight  into  Egypt. 

Near  by  is  the  island  of  Roda,  which  is  note- 
worthy for  the  legend  that  here  the  infant  Moses  was 
found  by  Pharaoh's  daughter.  The  visitor  crosses  a 
narrow  arm  of  the  Nile  by  a  crude  ferry  and  then 
walks  through  a  quaint  old  garden  to  a  wall  that 
overlooks  the  Nile  and  the  Pyramids.  This  wall 
marks  the  spot,  according  to  local  tradition,  where 
Moses  was  taken  from  the  bulrushes.  The  bul- 
rushes are  no  more  because  they  have  been  dredged 
out,  but  the  place  has  the  look  of  extreme  age  and 
the  garden  contains  many  curious  trees. 


[H2] 


Among  the 

Ruins  of  Luxor  and 

Karnak 


I  UXOR,  the  ancient  city  of  Upper  Egypt,  which 
may  be  reached  by  a  night  train  ride  from 
^  Cairo,  is  the  center  of  the  most  interesting 
ruins  on  the  Nile.  The  city  itself  has  been  built 
around  the  splendid  temple  of  Luxor,  founded  by 
Amenophis  III,  but  altered  and  extensively  rebuilt 
by  Rameses  II.  From  the  Nile  the  colonnade  of  this 
temple  is  a  beautiful  spedacle,  as  the  huge  columns 
are  in  perfed:  preservation.  Big  tourist  hotels  make 
up  most  of  the  other  buildings.  The  town  boasts  a 
good  water  front,  which  is  generally  lined  in  the 
winter  season  with  tourist  steamers.  The  view  across 
the  Nile  is  fine,  as  it  includes  the  lofty  Libyan  range 
of  mountains,  in  whose  flanks  were  cut  the  tombs  of 
the  Pharaohs.  Here,  in  two  or  three  days,  one  may 
study  the  ruins  of  Luxor,  Karnak  and  Thebes- 
names  that  the  historian  still  conjures  with. 

All  the  Egyptian  temples  were  built  on  one  gen- 
eral plan,  like  the  mosques  of  North  India,  and 
Luxor  does  not  differ  from  the  others,  except  that  it 
surpasses  them  all  in  the  beauty  of  its  colonnaded 
pillars.  Seven  double  columns,  about  fifty-two  feet 
high,  with  lotus  capitals,  support  a  massive  archi- 
trave, while  beyond  them  are  double  columns  on 
three  sides  of  a  great  court.  This  temple  of  Luxor 
was  originally  built  by  Amenophis  III  of  the  eight- 
eenth dynasty  in  honor  of  Ammon,  the  greatest  of 

[■43] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

Egyptian  gods,  his  wife  and  their  son,  the  moon- 
god  Khons.  The  successor  of  this  monarch  erased 
the  name  of  Ammon  and  made  other  changes,  but 
Seti  I  restored  Ammon's  name,  and  then  came  Ram- 
eses  II,  the  builder  who  never  wearied  in  rearing 
huge  temples  and  in  carving  colossal  figures  of  him- 
self. 

Rameses  added  a  colonnaded  court  in  front  ot 
the  temple,  built  an  enormous  pylon,  with  obelisks 
and  colossal  statues  that  celebrate  his  own  greatness, 
and  erased  the  cartouches  of  the  original  builder, 
substituting  his  own  and  thus  claiming  credit  for  the 
eredlion  of  the  whole  temple.  Were  the  spirit  of  the 
great  Rameses  allowed  to  return  to  earth  and  reani- 
mate the  mummy  that  now  forms  the  most  interest- 
ing exhibit  in  the  Cairo  Museum,  how  great  would 
be  his  humiliation  to  know  that  his  ingenious  devices 
to  appropriate  the  credit  of  other  men's  work  have 
been  exposed?  In  nearly  all  the  remains  of  Upper 
Egypt,  Rameses  figures  as  the  sole  builder,  but  the 
cunning  of  modern  archaeologists  has  stripped  him 
of  this  credit  and  has  revealed  him  as  the  greatest 
of  royal  charlatans. 

The  general  plan  of  the  Luxor  temple  is  repeated 
at  Karnak  and  all  other  places  in  Egypt.  The  pylon, 
two  towers  of  massive  masonry,  formed  the  entrance 
to  the  temple,  the  door  being  in  the  middle.  The 
towers  of  the  pylon  resemble  truncated  pyramids 
and,  as  they  were  formed  of  large  stones,  they  fre- 
quently survived  when  all  other  parts  of  the  temple 
fell  into  ruins.  The  surfaces  of  the  pylon  afforded 
space  for  reliefs  and  inscriptions,  telling  of  the  glo- 
ries of  the  king  who  reared  the  temple.  In  most 
cases  obelisks  and  colossal  statues  of  the  royal  builder 
were  placed  in  front  of  the  pylon.  From  the  pylon 
one  enters  the  great  open  court,  with  covered  colon- 

[H4] 


Ruins  at  Luxor  and  Karnak 

nades  at  right  and  left.  This  court  was  the  gathering 
place  of  the  people  on  all  big  festivals,  and  in  the 
center  stood  the  great  altar.  Back  of  this  court,  on  a 
terrace  a  few  feet  higher,  was  the  vestibule  of  the 
temple  upheld  by  columns,  the  front  row  of  which 
was  balustraaed.  Behind  this  was  the  great  hypostyle 
hall,  extending  the  whole  width  of  the  building,  with 
five  aisles,  the  two  outer  ones  being  lower  than  the 
others.  The  roof  of  the  central  aisle  is  upheld  by 
papyrus  columns  with  calyx  capitals,  while  that  of 
the  other  aisles  is  supported  by  papyrus  columns 
with  bud  capitals.  Behind  this  hall  is  the  inner  sanc- 
tuary, containing  the  image  of  the  god  in  a  sacred 
boat.  Around  the  sanduary  were  grouped  various 
chambers  for  the  storage  of  the  priests*  vestments 
and  for  the  use  of  watchmen  and  other  attendants. 

In  the  Luxor  temple  the  surface  of  the  pylon  is 
devoted  to  a  record  of  the  achievements  in  war  of 
Rameses  II,  the  monarch  who  finally  revised  the 
temple  and  put  his  seal  on  it.  Behind  the  pylon  is 
the  great  court  of  Rameses,  entirely  surrounded  by 
two  rows  of  seventy-four  columns,  with  papyrus  bud 
capitals  and  smooth  shafts.  Then  comes  a  colonnade 
of  seven  double  columns,  fifty-two  feet  high,  with 
calyx  capitals;  a  second  court,that  of  Amenophis  III, 
with  double  rows  of  columns  on  three  sides;  the 
vestibule  of  the  temple,  two  chapels,  the  birth-room 
of  Amenophis  and  several  other  chambers. 

Each  monarch  who  reared  a  temple  to  his  chosen 
deity  devoted  much  space  to  statues  of  himself, with 
grandiloquent  accounts  in  hieroglyphs  of  his  exploits 
in  war  and  peace  and  of  the  many  peoples  who  paid 
him  tribute.  Rameses  appears  to  have  had  most  of 
the  evil  traits  of  the  arbitrary  despot.  With  unlim- 
ited men  and  material  he  was  engaged  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  long  reign  in  ere<5ting  colossal 

[H5] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

strudhires  which  were  designed  to  perpetuate  in 
enduring  stone  the  record  of  his  achievements.  But 
Time  has  dealt  Rameses  some  staggering  blows. 
His  tomb  at  Thebes,  which  was  planned  to  preserve 
his  mummy  throughout  the  ages,  fell  in  and  is  the 
only  one  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings  that  cannot  be 
shown.  The  mummy  of  this  ablest  and  proudest  of 
the  Pharaohs  is  now  on  exhibition  at  the  Cairo  Mu- 
seum with  a  score  of  others  and  excites  the  ribald 
comment  of  the  Cook's  tourist,  who  drops  his"h*s" 
and  knows  nothing  of  Egyptology.  Yet  the  mummy 
of  Rameses  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  of  those 
shown  at  the  museum  because  the  head  and  face  are 
so  essentially  modern.  The  other  rulers  of  Egypt 
were  plainly  Orientals,  but  this  man,  with  the  high- 
bridged,sensitive  nose,  the  long  upper  lip,  the  strong 
chin  and  the  powerful  forehead,  might  have  stepped 
out  of  the  political  life  of  any  of  the  great  European 
nations  during  the  last  century. 

The  impressiveness  of  the  temple  of  Luxor  de- 
pends mainly  upon  the  rows  of  columns,  nearly  sixty 
feet  in  height,  which  give  one  a  vivid  idea  of  the 
majesty  of  Egyptian  architedure  in  its  best  estate. 
These  columns  show  few  traces  of  the  destroying 
hand  of  time,  although  they  were  carved  from  soft 
limestone.  Probably  the  escape  of  this  temple  from 
the  ruin  that  befell  Karnak  and  Thebes  was  due 
mainly  to  its  sheltered  position  and  also  to  the  fadl 
that  ia  Coptic  church  and  the  houses  of  peasants  were 
built  among  the  columns.  The  refuse  that  aided  to 
preserve  these  remains  of  Ancient  Egyptian  archi- 
te<5ture  was  fully  twenty  feet  deep  when  the  work  of 
excavation  was  begun.  Hence  Luxor  satisfies  the  eye 
in  the  perfect  arrangement  of  the  columns  and  in  the 
massiveness  of  the  work.  Here  also  on  the  pylon 
and  the  walls  of  the  court  may  be  seen  some  beauti- 

[146] 


The  Great  Hypostylc  Hall  at  Kamak. 

Thi»  Hall  is  in  the  Temple  of  Ammon,  and  ii  One 

of  the  Most  Impressive  in  All  Egypt.  Originally 

There  Were  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-four 

Columns,  Arranged  in  Sixteen  Rowi 


Ruins  at  Luxor  and  Karnak 

fill  reliefs  and  inscriptions  which  depid  scenes  in  the 
campaigns  of  Rameses  II  against  the  Hittites,  sacri- 
ficial processions  and  hymns  to  the  gods. 

From  ancient  Luxor  to  Karnak,  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  one-half,  the  way  was  marked  in  the  time 
of  the  Pharaohs  by  a  double  row  of  small  sphinxes, 
many  of  which  still  remain  in  a  half-ruined  condition. 
This  avenue  leads  to  the  small  temple  of  Khons,  the 
moon-god,  made  noteworthy  by  a  beautiful  pylon. 
This  pylon  is  one  hundred  and  four  feet  long,  thirty- 
three  feet  wide  and  sixty  feet  high  and  is  covered 
with  inscriptions  and  reliefs.  This  small  temple 
serves  as  an  introdudtion  to  the  great  temple  of 
Ammon,  the  chief  glory  of  Karnak,  to  which  most 
of  the  Pharaohs  contributed.  This  temple  is  difficult 
to  describe,  as  it  covers  several  acres  and  is  a  mass 
of  gigantic  masonry,  full  of  majesty  even  in  its  ruin. 
What  it  was  in  the  days  of  its  builders,  with  its  vast 
courts  lined  with  beautiful  designs  in  brilliant  colors, 
the  imagination  fails  to  conceive.  Its  greatest  fea- 
tures are  the  main  pylon  (three  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  wide  and  one  hundred  and  forty-two  and  one- 
half  feet  high),  the  great  hypostyle  hall  of  Seti  I  and 
Rameses  II,  the  festival  temple  of  Thotmes  III  and 
the  obelisk  of  Queen  Hatasu.  From  the  pylon  a 
superb  view  may  be  gained  of  the  ruins  of  Karnak. 

The  hypostyle  hall  is  justly  ranked  among  the 
wonders  of  the  world,  as  it  is  no  less  than  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  feet  in  breadth  by  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  in  depth  and  it  is  estimated  that  the 
great  church  of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris  could  be  set 
down  in  this  hall.  Sixteen  rows  of  columns— one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  in  all-support  the  roof. 
Looking  down  the  two  central  rows  of  columns 
toward  the  san(5luary,one  gets  some  idea  of  the  effe(5t 
of  this  colossal  architedure  when  the  pillars  were 

[147] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

all  perfedl  and  the  fierce  sunshine  of  ancient  Egypt 
brought  out  their  barbaric  wealth  of  gold  and  bril- 
liant colors. 

The  walls  of  this  immense  hall  are  covered  with 
pidhires  in  relief  depicting  the  vidories  of  Seti  and 
Rameses  over  the  Libyans  and  the  people  of  Pales- 
tine. These  designs  represent  the  two  monarchs  as 
performing  prodigies  of  valor  on  the  field  of  battle 
and  then  bringing  the  trophies  of  war  as  an  offering 
to  the  gods.  The  festal  hall  of  Thotmes  III  is 
made  noteworthy  by  twenty  unique  columns  ar- 
ranged in  two  rows.  The  Temple  of  Karnak  was 
made  beautiful  by  two  fine  obelisks  of  pink  granite 
from  Assuan,  ereded  by  Queen  Hatasu.  One  is  in 
fragments,  but  the  other  rises  one  hundred  and  one- 
half  feet  from  amid  a  ruined  colonnade.  It  is  the 
loftiest  obelisk  known  with  the  single  exception  of 
that  in  front  of  the  Lateran  in  Rome,  which  is  taller 
by  only  three  and  one-half  feet.  The  inscription 
records  that  it  was  made  in  seven  months. 

The  impression  left  by  the  ruins  of  Karnak  is 
bewildering.  The  modern  mind  has  great  difficulty 
in  conceiving  how  any  monarch,  no  matter  how  great 
his  resources,  could  spend  years  in  ereAing  these 
huge  structures  in  honor  of  his  gods.  Here  are  scores 
of  colossal  statues  of  Rameses,  Seti  and  Amenophis, 
each  of  which  required  six  months  to  carve  from  a 
single  slab  of  red  or  black  granite.  Here  are  hun- 
dreds of  columns  of  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  high, 
covered  from  capital  to  base  with  richly  carved  hier- 
oglyphs. Here  are  splendid  halls,  larger  than  any- 
thing known  in  our  day,  which  were  picture  galleries 
in  stone,  blazing  with  gold,  red,  purple  and  other 
colors.  And  here  are  obelisks  that  have  preserved 
through  all  these  centuries  the  story  of  their  dedi- 
cation. 

[148] 


Ruins  at  Luxor  and  Karnak 

The  mind  is  staggered  by  so  great  a  mass  of  work, 
representing  untold  misery  of  thousands  of  wretched 
slaves  brought  from  all  parts  of  the  then  known 
world.  These  slaves  were  made  to  work  under  the 
terrible  Egyptian  sun;  if  they  were  overcome  by  the 
heat  and  stopped  for  a  moment's  rest  their  bare 
backs  felt  the  cruel  lash  of  the  overseer;  if  they  fell 
under  the  heat  and  the  burden  they  were  dragged 
out  and  their  bodies  thrown  to  the  vultures  and  the 
jackals.  So,  while  we  stand  in  amazement  before 
these  relics  of  the  enormous  adivity  of  a  people  who 
have  passed  away,  we  cannot  fail  to  note  that  these 
huge  stones  were  cemented  with  the  blood  and  tears 
of  the  bond  slave,  and  that  if  they  could  find  a  voice 
they  would  tell  of  unthinkable  atrocities  which  they 
witnessed  in  those  old  days,  before  brotherly  love 
came  into  the  world. 


[H9] 


Tombs  of 

The  Kings  at  Ancient 

Thebes 


THE  Greeks  and  Romans  who  went  up  the 
Nile  as  far  as  the  "hundred -gated"  city  of 
Thebes  declared  that  the  Tombs  of  the 
Kings,  cut  in  the  limestone  sides  of  the  Libyan  range 
of  mountains,  were  among  the  wonders  of  the  world. 
The  tourist  of  to-day  will  confirm  this  early  impres- 
sion, for  in  Egypt  nothing  gives  one  a  more  vivid 
idea  of  the  enormous  pains  taken  by  the  Pharaohs  to 
preserve  their  dead  from  desecration  than  do  these 
tombs.  Here  for  several  miles  in  the  flanks  of  these 
mountains-sterile, desolate  beyond  any  region  that  I 
have  ever  seen-are  scattered  the  rock-hewn  tombs 
of  the  monarchs  who  carried  the  arms  of  Egypt  to 
all  parts  of  the  known  world  of  their  day.  Like  their 
temples,  the  Egyptians  built  their  tombs  after  a 
uniform  plan— the  only  variation  was  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  minor  chambers  and  in  the  inscriptions 
which  told  of  the  history  of  the  king  whose  mummy 
reposed  in  the  vault. 

Seven  miles  across  the  river  the  Pharaohs  chose 
the  site  of  their  tombs.  Imagination  could  not  con- 
ceive a  greater  abomination  of  desolation  than  the 
rocky  mountainside  in  which  these  tombs  are  carved; 
but  fortunes  were  lavished  on  the  construction  of 
these  resting  places  of  the  dead.  Historians  and 
travelers  have  told  of  the  great  city  which  grew  up 
about  the  tombs  of  the  Egyptian  kings- the  temples, 

[•so] 


Tombs  of  Kings  at  Ancient  Thebes 

the  homes  of  priests  and  the  huge  settlements  of 
thousands  of  workmen  who  spent  years  in  the  labo- 
rious carving  and  decoration  of  these  burial  places. 
But  to-day  nothing  remains  of  these  cities,  and  of 
the  temples  only  a  few  columns,  pillars  and  broken 
statues  bear  witness  to  their  former  grandeur.  Yet 
the  tombs  have  resisted  the  destroying  hand  of  the 
centuries,  and  the  walls  of  several  of  them  actually 
retain  the  brilliant  colors  laid  on  by  the  painters  over 
four  thousand  years  ago.  When  you  go  down  the 
roughly-hewn  steps  into  the  mortuary  chambers, 
carved  out  of  the  solid  rock,  it  is  borne  in  upon  you 
that  here  time  has  stood  still;  that  during  all  the 
ages  that  have  seen  the  rise  of  Christianity  and  the 
growth  of  empires  greater  than  Thebes  ever  dreamed 
of,  the  mummies  of  these  Pharaohs  reposed  here 
undisturbed.  Now  by  the  aid  of  skilfully  arranged 
eledric  lights  you  may  descend  into  most  of  these 
tombs,  marvel  at  the  beauty  of  the  decorative  inscrip- 
tions on  the  walls,  gaze  upon  the  massive  granite 
sarcophagi  in  which  the  mummies  were  placed,  and 
get  a  genuine  taste  of  the  antiquity  that  you  have 
read  about  but  never  fully  realized  before.  This  is 
the  service  of  the  tombs  of  the  kings— the  adual 
turning  back  of  the  centuries  so  that  one  feels  the 
touch  of  the  ancient  days  as  vividly  as  he  feels  the 
hot,  dust-laden,  oppressive  air  of  the  mausoleum. 

The  excursion  from  Luxor  to  the  tombs  of  the 
kings  and  the  Colossi  of  Memnon,  not  far  away,  is 
a  hard  day's  trip.  The  tourist  crosses  the  Nile  in  a 
small  boat  and  takes  a  donkey  or  a  carriage.  The 
road  leads  along  a  large  canal,  passing  the  remains 
of  the  great  temple  of  Seti  I  at  Kurna,  and  thence 
winds  around  through  two  desert  valleys  into  a  gorge 
lined  on  both  sides  with  naked,  sun-baked  rocks 
that  give  back  the  heat  like  the  open  doors  of  a 

['51] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

furnace.  Bare  of  any  scrap  of  verdure,  desolate  be- 
yond expression,  these  rocky  walls  that  shut  in  this 
gorge  form  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  tombs  of  the 
kings.  The  road  finally  turns  to  the  left  and  enters 
a  small  valley,  encircled  by  huge  rocks,  cut  by  ra- 
vines. Here  one  may  see  in  the  sides  of  the  moun- 
tain wall  the  first  of  the  rock-hewn  tombs,  which 
happens  to  be  that  of  Rameses  IV.  One  enters  the 
large  gateway  and  passes  down  an  ancient  staircase 
cut  in  the  solid  rock,  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  de- 
grees. Three  corridors  and  an  ante-room,  all  carved 
out  of  rock,  lead  to  the  main  chamber,  which  con- 
tains the  mammoth  granite  sarcophagus  of  the  king 
(ten  feet  long,  eight  feet  high  and  seven  feet  wide), 
beautifully  decorated  with  inscriptions.  Four  other 
rooms  follow,  the  walls  of  each  being  covered  with 
inscriptions.  Recesses  are  found  in  the  main  hall  for 
the  storage  of  the  furniture  of  the  dead  and  in  sev- 
eral of  the  other  rooms. 

The  theory  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  arrangement 
of  these  tombs  was  that  the  dead  king,  guided  by 
the  great  sun-god,  voyaged  through  the  underworld 
every  night  in  a  boat.  Hence  he  must  have  careful 
guidance  in  regard  to  his  route.  This  was  furnished 
by  elaborate  extrafts  from  two  sacred  books  of  the 
Egyptians.  One  was  entitled  T^he  Book  of  Him  Who 
Is  in  the  Underworld  and  the  other  was  the  Book  of 
the  Portals. 

The  walls  of  these  tombs  reveal  extrads  from  the 
sacred  books  in  great  variety,  but  all  designed  to 
serve  as  a  guide  to  the  dead  kings.  The  best  tombs 
are  those  of  Amenophis  II,  Rameses  III,  Seti  I  and 
ThotmesIII.  They  are  all  of  similar  design  but  the 
tomb  of  Seti  I  (discovered  by  the  Italian  savant, 
Belzoni)  is  finer  than  any  of  the  others.  It  includes 
fourteen  rooms,  most  of  which  are  richly  adorned 


Tombs  of  Kings  at  Ancient  Thebes 

with  inscriptions  and  designs  from  the  sacred  books. 
The  sculptures  on  the  walls  are  executed  with  great 
skill  and  the  decorations  of  the  ceilings  show  much 
artistic  taste.  In  the  tenth  room  are  many  curious 
decorations,  the  ceiling,  which  is  finely  vaulted,  being 
covered  with  astronomical  figures  and  lists  of  stars 
and  constellations.  From  this  room  an  incline  leads 
to  the  mummy  shaft.  The  mummy  of  Seti  I  is  in 
the  Cairo  Museum,  while  the  fine  alabaster  sarcoph- 
agus is  in  the  Soane  Museum  in  London.  The  tomb 
of  Amenophis  II  is  noteworthy  as  the  only  one  which 
contains  the  royal  mummy.  In  a  crypt  with  blue 
ceiling,  spangled  with  yellow  stars  and  with  yellow 
walls  to  represent  papyrus,  is  the  great  sandstone 
sarcophagus  of  the  king.  Under  a  strong  eledric 
light  is  shown  the  mummy-shaped  coffin  with  the 
body  of  the  king,  its  arms  crossed  and  the  funeral 
garlands  still  resting  in  the  case.  The  effedivencss 
of  this  mummy  makes  one  regret  that  the  others 
have  been  removed  to  the  Cairo  Museum,  instead  of 
being  restored  to  their  original  places  in  these  tombs. 
Most  of  these  royal  mummies  were  removed  to  a 
shaft  at  Deir-el-Bahri  to  save  them  from  desecration 
by  the  invading  Persians,  but  when  the  mummies 
were  found  it  would  have  been  wise  to  replace  them 
in  these  tombs  rather  than  to  group  them,  as  was 
done,  in  the  Cairo  Museum.  One  or  two  mummies 
in  that  museum  would  have  been  as  effective  as  two 
dozen. 

Not  far  from  these  tombs  is  the  fine  temple  of 
Queen  Hatasu  at  Deir-el-Bahri.  This  queen  was  the 
sister  and  wife  of  KingThotmes  III,  and  for  a  part 
of  his  reign  was  co-regent.  The  temple,  which  was 
left  unfinished,  was  completed  by  Rameses  II.  A 
short  ride  from  this  temple  brings  one  to  the  Ram- 
cssium,  the  large  temple  (which  is  badly  preserved) 

['53] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

ereded  by  Rameses  II  and  dedicated  to  the  god 
Ammon.  The  pylon  is  ruined,  but  one  can  still  de- 
cipher some  of  the  inscriptions  that  tell  of  Rameses* 
campaign  against  the  Hittites.  The  first  court  is  a 
mass  of  ruined  masonry,  but  it  contains  fragments  of 
a  colossal  statue  of  Rameses,  the  largest  ever  found  in 
Egypt.  It  probably  measured  fifty-seven  and  one- 
third  feet  in  height,  as  the  various  parts  show  that 
it  was  twenty-two  and  one-half  feet  from  shoulder 
to  shoulder.  The  colossal  head  of  another  statue  of 
Rameses  was  found  near  by.  The  great  hall  had 
many  fine  columns,  of  which  eighteen  are  still  stand- 
ing. These  columns  are  very  impressive  and  give 
one  some  idea  of  the  majesty  of  the  temple  when  it 
was  complete.  Not  far  away  are  the  tombs  of  the 
queens,  including  the  fine  mausoleum  of  the  consort 
of  Rameses  II,  part  of  whose  name  was  Mi-an-Mut. 

A  half  mile  from  the  Ramessium  brings  one  to 
the  Colossi  of  Memnon,  the  two  huge  seated  figures 
of  stone,  which  were  long  included  among  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world.  These  figures  were  statues  of 
King  Amenophis  III  and  were  placed  in  front  of  a 
great  temple  that  he  built  at  this  place;  but  time  has 
dealt  hardly  with  the  temple,  as  scarcely  a  trace  of  it 
remains.  The  figures  with  the  pedestals  are  about 
sixty-five  feet  high  and,  as  they  are  on  the  level  plain 
near  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  they  can  be  seen  from  a 
great  distance.  Though  carved  from  hard  sandstone 
these  figures  have  suflfered  severely  from  the  ele- 
ments, so  that  the  faces  bear  little  trace  of  human 
features;  still  they  are  impressive  from  their  mere 
size  and  from  the  fad:  that  they  have  come  down  to 
us  across  the  centuries  with  so  little  change. 

The  southern  statue  is  in  the  best  preservation, 
but  the  northern  one  is  of  greatest  interest  because 
for  ages  it  was  believed  to  give  forth  musical  notes 

[154] 


Tombs  of  Kings  at  Ancient  Thebes 

when  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  fell  on  its  lips. 
The  Greeks  called  it  the  Statue  of  Memnon,  and 
invented  the  fable  that  Memnon,  who  was  slain  at 
Troy  by  Achilles,  appeared  on  the  Nile  as  a  stone 
image  and  every  morning  greeted  his  mother  (Eos) 
with  a  song.  So  many  good  observers  vouched  for 
these  musical  notes  at  sunrise  that  the  phenomenon 
must  be  accepted  as  an  historical  fad:.  The  Romans 
invented  the  legend  that  when  these  sounds  occurred 
the  god  was  angry.  Hence  the  emperor,  Septimius 
Severus,  apparently  to  propitiate  the  god,  made  some 
restorations  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  statue, 
whereupon  the  mysterious  musical  sounds  ceased. 
Some  modern  experts  in  physics  have  deduced  the 
theory  that  this  statue,  carved  from  hard,  resonant 
stone,  really  gave  forth  sounds  when  warmed  up  by 
the  early  sun  after  the  heavy  dews  of  night.  Similar 
sounds  have  been  observed  elsewhere,  due  to  the 
splitting  off  of  very  small  particles  of  stone  by  sud- 
den expansion.  Whatever  the  cause  of  these  mys- 
terious sounds,  the  speaking  statue  has  served  as  an 
inspiration  to  many  poets. 


['JSl 


Sailing  Down 

The  Nile  on  a  Small 

Steamer 


FEW  pleasure  trips  are  more  enjoyable  than  a 
steamer  ride  down  the  Nile  from  Luxor  to 
Cairo.  My  plans  did  not  permit  an  extensive 
Nile  trip,  so  I  went  up  the  Nile  by  rail  and  came 
down  by  the  Amenartas,  one  of  Cook's  small  boats. 
For  one  who  has  the  leisure  the  best  scheme  is  to 
take  one  of  Cook's  express  boats  and  make  the  round 
trip  to  Assouan  from  Cairo.  The  Egypt  and  the 
Arabia  are  two  luxurious  steamers  specially  arranged 
for  the  comfort  of  tourists. 

The  Nile  at  Luxor  is  about  a  half-mile  wide  at 
extreme  low  water  in  December,  although  the  marks 
on  the  bank  show  that  it  spreads  over  several  miles 
of  flat  land  when  the  heavy  rains  come  in  June  and 
July.  It  is  as  muddy  as  the  Missouri  or  the  San 
Joaquin,  but  the  natives  drink  this  water,  refusing  to 
have  it  filtered.  They  claim,  and  probably  with  rea- 
son, that  this  Nile  water  is  very  nutritious.  The 
Egyptian  fellah  or  peasant  seldom  enjoys  a  hot  meal. 
He  chews  parched  Indian  corn  and  sugar  cane,  and 
eats  a  curious  bread  made  of  coarse  flour  and  water. 
Despite  this  monotonous  diet  the  native  is  a  model 
of  physical  vigor,  with  teeth  which  are  as  white  and 
perfect  as  those  of  a  Pueblo  Indian. 

All  around  Luxor  are  evidences  of  the  tremen- 
dous force  of  the  Nile  waters  when  in  flood.  At 
various  headlands  near  the  city  the  banks  of  the  Nile 

['S6] 


Sailing  Down  the  Nile  on  Steamer 

have  been  stoned  up  with  solid  walls,  so  that  these 
may  receive  the  full  sweep  of  the  flood  waters.  The 
great  dam  at  Assouan,  perhaps  the  finest  bit  of  en- 
gineering work  in  the  world,  holds  up  the  main  cur- 
rent of  the  Nile  and  prevents  the  destrudive  floods 
which  in  the  old  days  frequently  swept  away  all  the 
soil  of  the  fellah's  little  farm.  This  dam  has  now 
been  increased  twelve  feet  in  height,  so  that  no  water 
pours  over  the  top. 

The  farmers  in  Egypt  irrigate  in  the  same  way 
as  the  ryots  of  India.  They  lay  off  a  field  into  small 
redangular  patches,  with  a  ridge  around  each  to  keep 
the  irrigation  water  in  it.  These  redangles  make  the 
fields  look  like  huge  checker-boards.  Plowing  is 
done  exadly  as  in  the  time  of  Cleopatra.  A  forked 
stick,  often  not  shod  with  iron,  serves  as  a  plow,  to 
which  are  frequently  harnessed  a  camel  and  a  bul- 
lock by  a  heavy,  unwieldy  yoke.  When  these  two 
unequally  yoked  animals  move  across  the  field,  agri- 
culture in  the  Orient  is  seen  at  its  best.  Unlike  the 
Japanese,  the  Egyptian  women  do  not  work  in  the 
fields.  Their  labors  seem  to  be  limited  to  carrying 
water  in  large  jars  on  their  heads  and  to  washing 
clothes  in  the  dirty  Nile  water.  The  most  common 
sight  along  the  river  is  that  of  two  women,  with  their 
single  cotton  garment  gathered  up  above  their  knees, 
filling  the  water  jars  or  rinsing  out  clothes  in  water 
that  is  thick  and  yellow  with  dirt. 

The  steamer  Amenartas  started  down  the  river 
at  two  in  the  afternoon.  The  current  was  strong  and 
the  little  steamer  easily  made  fifteen  miles  an  hour. 
Now  began  a  series  of^  exquisite  views  of  river  life, 
which  changed  every  minute  and  saved  the  voyage 
from  monotony.  The  first  thing  that  impresses  the 
stranger  who  is  new  to  Egypt  is  the  number  and 
variety  of  the  shadoufs  for  bringing  the  Nile  water 

['57] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

to  the  fields.  These  consist  of  three  platforms,  each 
equipped  with  two  upright  posts  of  date  palm  trunks, 
with  a  crossbar.  From  this  crossbar  depends  a  well 
sweep,  with  a  heavy  weight  at  one  end  and  a  tin  or 
wooden  bucket  at  the  other.  One  man  at  the  level 
of  the  river  scoops  up  a  bucket  of  water  and  lifts  it 
to  the  height  of  his  head,  pouring  it  into  a  small 
basin  of  earth.  The  second  man  fills  his  bucket  from 
this  basin  and  in  turn  delivers  it  to  the  third  man, 
who  is  about  six  feet  above  him.  The  third  man 
raises  the  water  to  the  height  of  his  head  and  pours 
it  into  a  ditch  which  carries  it  upon  the  land.  The 
heavy  weights  on  the  shadouf  help  to  raise  the  water, 
but  the  labor  of  lifting  this  water  all  day  is  strenuous. 
The  shadouf  men  work  with  only  small  loin  cloths, 
and  occasionally  one  of  these  fellows  in  a  sheltered 
hole  toils  stark  naked. 

Despite  the  fad  that  their  work  is  as  heavy  as 
any  done  in  Egypt,  they  receive  the  wretched  pit- 
tance of  two  piasters  or  ten  cents  a  day,  out  of  which 
they  must  spend  two  and  one-half  cents  a  day  for 
food.  The  shadouf  is  as  old  as  history,  and  the  meth- 
ods in  use  for  raising  this  Nile  water  are  the  same 
to-day  that  they  were  in  the  earliest  dawn  of  re- 
corded history. 

As  in  India,  there  is  a  great  dearth  of  farmhouses 
in  these  rich  lands.  The  peasants  are  herded  in 
squalid  villages,  the  mud  huts  jammed  close  together, 
and  the  whole  place  overrun  with  goats,  donkeys, 
pigs,  chickens  and  pigeons.  The  houses  are  the  crud- 
est huts,  with  no  window  and  no  roof. 

Life  in  these  villages  along  the  Nile  is  as  primi- 
tive as  it  is  among  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico.  Although  their  religion  admon- 
ishes them  to  wash  before  prayers,  these  peasants 
appear  to  pay  little  heed  to  such  rites.  Men,  worn- 

['S8] 


Sailing  Down  the  Nile  on  Steamer 

en  and  children  are  extremely  dirty,  and  it  is  unusual 
to  find  anyone  with  good  eyes.  Inflammation  of  the 
eyelids  is  the  most  common  complaint  and  this  dis- 
ease is  aggravated  by  the  fadt  that  the  natives  make 
no  effort  to  drive  away  the  flies  that  fasten  upon  the 
sore  eyes  of  their  little  children.  This  is  due  to  the 
common  superstition  that  it  brings  ill  luck  to  brush 
off  flies.  At  every  small  station  where  the  steamer 
stopped  to  land  native  passengers  and  freight  a  score 
of  villagers  would  be  lined  up,  each  afflided  with 
some  eye  complaint,  and  all  swarming  with  small 
black  flies. 

At  only  a  few  towns  along  the  Nile  from  Luxor 
to  Cairo  were  there  any  houses  which  looked  like 
comfortable  homes.  The  great  majority  of  the  houses 
were  of  sun-dried  brick,  and  these  were  often  in  a 
ruinous  condition.  Yet  with  their  framework  of 
graceful  date  palms,  these  squalid  villages  would  de- 
light the  eye  of  an  artist.  For  nearly  the  whole  dis- 
tance the  west  side  of  the  Nile  is  marked  oflFfrom 
the  desert  by  the  high  Libyan  mountains,  gleaming 
white  and  yellow  in  the  brilliant  sunshine.  These 
limestone  clifi^s  were  chosen  for  the  tombs  of  the 
kings  at  Thebes,  and  all  along  the  river  one  could 
make  out  with  a  glass  frequent  tombs  carved  in  the 
steep  sides  of  these  hills.  The  other  side  of  the  river 
was  flat,  with  low  ranges  of  hills.  At  sunrise  and  at 
sunset  the  most  exquisite  colors  transformed  the 
country  into  a  veritable  fairyland.  The  sun  sank 
behind  bands  of  purple  and  amethyst,  and  his  last 
rays  brought  out  in  sharp  silhouette  the  statuesque 
forms  of  women  water-carriers  and  long  lines  of  laden 
camels  moving  in  ghostly  silence  along  the  river 
bank.  Very  beautiful  also  were  the  pi6hires  made 
by  the  dahabiehs  and  other  native  boats,  with  their 
big  lateen  sails  and  with  the  motley  gathering  of 

['59] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

natives  in  the  stern.  All  these  boats  have  enormous 
rudders  which  rise  high  out  of  the  water  and  add 
greatly  to  the  efFediveness  of  the  pidure  as  seen 
against  the  sunset  glow. 

The  atmosphere  along  the  Nile  is  wonderfully 
clear,  the  sky  is  as  blue  and  lustrous  as  fine  silk,  and 
the  wind  blows  up  clouds  in  fantastic  shapes,  which 
add  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  scenery.  All  day 
the  little  steamer  passes  half-ruined  villages,  embow- 
ered in  feathery  palms,  with  camels  in  the  background 
and  an  occasional  bullock  straining  at  the  wheel 
which  lifts  the  Nile  water  on  the  shadouf.  All  day 
natives  passed  along  the  sky  line,  some  on  don- 
keys, others  on  camels,  still  others  driving  in  front 
laden  animals,  whose  forms  could  scarcely  be  distin- 
guished amid  the  thick  clouds  of  dust  raised  by  their 
heavy  feet.  The  creak  of  the  shadoufs  could  be 
heard  before  we  came  abreast  of  the  tireless  workers. 

Seen  from  the  steamer  the  glamour  of  the  Orient 
was  over  all  this  poverty-stricken  land,  but  seen  near 
at  hand  were  revealed  all  the  ugly  features  of  dirt, 
disease,  hopeless  poverty,  unending  work  that  yields 
only  the  coarsest  and  scantiest  food.  We  passed 
miles  on  miles  of  waving  fields  of  sugar  cane,  with 
great  faftories  where  this  cane  was  worked  up  into 
sugar.  We  passed  broad  fields  of  cotton,  with  fadlo- 
ries  near  at  hand  for  converting  the  produd  into 
cloth.  Principalities  of  wheat-great  seas  of  emerald 
green  that  stood  out  against  a  background  of  sandy 
desert— lined  the  banks  at  frequent  intervals.  But  all 
these  evidences  of  the  new  wealth  that  scientific  irri- 
gation has  brought  to  this  ancient  valley  of  the  Nile 
means  nothing  to  the  Egyptian  peasant.  These  great 
industries  are  in  the  hands  of  native  or  foreign  mil- 
lionaires, who  see  to  it  that  the  wages  of  the  native 
workers  are  kept  down  to  the  lowest  level. 

[1 60] 


Before  the 

Pyramids  and  the 

Sphinx 


WINTRY  winds  in  Cairo,  which  raised  clouds 
of  dust  and  sand,  prevented  me  from  seeing 
the  pyramids  until  after  my  return  from 
Luxor.  Then  one  still,  warm  day  it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  sec  at  their  best  these  oldest  monuments 
of  man's  work  on  this  earth.  Yet  impressive  as  are 
these  great  masses  ofstone  rising  from  barren  wastes 
of  sand,  they  did  not  affed:  me  so  powerfully  as  the 
ruins  of  Karnak  and  the  tombs  of  the  Kings  of 
Thebes.  Three  pyramids  were  construded  at  Gizeh 
and  four  other  groups  at  Sakkara,  the  site  of  the  an- 
cient city  of  Memphis.  That  these  pyramids  were 
built  for  the  tombs  of  kings  has  now  been  demon- 
strated beyond  question,  so  that  the  many  elaborate 
theories  of  the  religious  significance  of  these  monu- 
ments may  be  dismissed.  The  ancient  city  of  Mem- 
phis was  for  centuries  the  seat  of  the  government  of 
Egypt,  and  the  tombs thatmay  be  seen  to-day  at  Sak- 
kara preceded  the  rock-hewn  tombs  at  Thebes  in 
Upper  Egypt.  The  great  ?ntiquity  of  the  tombs  at 
Sakkara  makes  these  of  importance,  although  much 
of  the  work  is  inferior  to  that  at  Thebes. 

The  pictures  of  the  pyramids  are  misleading. 
They  give  the  impression  that  these  great  masses  of 
stone  rise  near  palm  groves  and  that  the  Sphinx  is 
almost  as  hugh  as  the  pyramid  of  Cheops  which 
overshadows  it    In  reality,  the  pyramids  are  set  on  a 


[.6:] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

sandy  plateau,about  fifteenfeet  high, while theSphinx 
is  pradlically  buried  in  a  hollow  to  the  west  of  the 
great  pyramid  and  can  only  be  seen  from  one  direc- 
tion. When  you  stand  in  front  of  the  big  pyramid 
you  can  form  no  idea  of  its  size,  but  you  know  from 
the  guide  book  that  it  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long  and  four  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  high. 
The  height  of  each  side  is  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  feet,  while  the  angle  of  the  sides  is  fifty- 
one  degrees  fifty  minutes.  These  statistics  do  not 
make  much  impression  on  the  mind  but,  when  it 
is  said  that  this  huge  pyramid  actually  covers 
thirteen  acres,  the  mind  begins  to  grasp  the  stu- 
pendous size  of  this  great  mass  of  masonry.  This 
pyramid  to-day  is  of  dirty  brown  color,  but  when  fin- 
ished it  was  covered  with  blocks  of  white  limestone. 

These  were  removed  by  various  builders  and  have 
served  to  ered  mosques  and  temples.  Had  this 
covering  remained  intad  it  would  be  impossible  to 
climb  the  pyramid  of  Cheops.  From  Cairo  and  the 
Nile,  as  well  as  from  the  desert,  the  pyramids  are  an 
impressive  sight.  Unique  in  shape  and  massive  as 
the  Libyan  hills  beyond  them,  they  can  never  be 
forgotten,  for  they  represent  more  perfedly  than  any 
other  remains  in  Egypt  the  control  by  the  early  kings 
of  unlimited  labor  and  materials. 

It  used  to  be  the  fashion  to  sneer  at  the  stories 
told  by  Herodotus,  but  the  excavations  in  Egypt  dur- 
ing the  last  thirty  years  have  demonstrated  that  this 
old  Greek  traveler  was  an  accurate  observer  and  that 
what  he  saw  may  be  accepted  as  fadl.  He  was  the 
first  to  give  any  detailed  description  of  the  pyramids 
and  of  the  enormous  work  of  building  them.  Hero- 
dotus visited  Egypt  about  450  B.  C,  and  he  related 
that  one  hundred  thousand  men  were  employed  for 
three  months  at  one  time  in  building  the  great  pyra- 

[162] 


Before  the  Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx 

mid  of  Cheops.  The  stone  was  quarried  near  the 
•ite  of  the  citadel  in  Cairo,  and  ten  years  were  con- 
sumed in  construding  a  great  road  across  the  desert 
to  Gizeh  by  which  the  stone  was  transported.  The 
remains  of  this  road,  formed  of  massive  stone  blocks, 
may  now  be  seen  near  the  Sphinx.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  big  pyramid  alone  required  twenty  years. 
The  story  of  Herodotus  that  one  hundred  thousand 
men  were  once  employed  on  this  pyramid  is  plaus- 
ible, according  to  Flinders-Petrie,  as  these  months 
came  during  the  inundation  of  the  Nile,  when  there 
was  no  field  work  to  occupy  their  time. 

The  ascent  of  the  pyramid  is  an  easy  task  for 
any  one  in  good  physical  condition  and  accustomed 
to  gymnastic  work.  Two  Bedouins  assist  you  from 
the  front  while  an  ancient  Sheik  is  supposed  to  help 
push  you  from  the  rear.  In  my  case  the  Bedouins 
had  a  very  easy  job,  while  the  Sheik  enjoyed  a  sine- 
cure. The  stones  are  about  a  yard  high,  and  the 
only  difficulty  of  the  ascent  lies  in  the  straddle  which 
must  be  made  to  cover  these  stones.  The  ascent  is 
made  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  pyramid,  and 
much  help  is  gained  by  inequalities  in  the  great  slabs 
of  limestone  which  enable  one  to  get  a  foothold. 
Two  rests  were  made  on  the  upward  climb,  but  we 
came  down  without  any  rest,  covering  the  whole  trip 
in  about  fifteen  minutes. 

The  view  from  the  summit  is  superb.  On  two 
sides,  the  south  and  west,  s<"»'etches  the  sandy  desert, 
broken  only  by  the  groups  of  pyramids  at  Abusir, 
Sakkara  and  Dashhur,  which  mark  the  bounds  of  the 
ancient  city  of  Memphis. 

The  average  tourist  has  more  curiosity  about 
the  Sphinx  than  about  the  pyramids,  and  here  the 
reality  is  not  disappointing.  An  impressive  figure  is 
this  of  a  recumbent  stone  lion  one  hundred  and 

[163] 


The  Critic  in  the  Orient 

eighty-seven  feet  long  and  sixty-six  feet  high,  with 
a  man's  head  that  is  full  of  power  and  pride.  The 
nose  is  gone  and  the  face  is  badly  scarred,  but  here 
is  the  typical  Egyptian  face,  with  the  fine  setting  of 
the  eyes  and  the  graceful  head. 

The  journey  to  the  rock  tombs  of  Sakkara  and 
the  site  of  ancient  Memphis  is  tedious,  as  it  includes 
a  ride  across  the  sandy  desert  of  eighty  miles.  A 
stop  is  made  at  the  old  house  of  Mariette,  the  fam- 
ous French  Egyptologist,  who  uncovered  many  of 
the  finest  remains  in  Memphis.  Near  by  is  the  Step 
pyramid,  the  tomb  of  a  king  of  the  fifth  dynasty  and 
one  of  the  oldest  monuments  in  Egypt. 

Near  by  are  several  pyramids  and  tombs  that 
will  repay  a  visit,  as  each  gives  some  new  idea  of  the 
extraordinary  care  taken  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  to 
preserve  their  dead  and  to  assure  them  proper  guid- 
ance in  the  land  beyond  the  tomb. 

In  one  chapel  are  exquisitely  carved  mural  re- 
liefs, many  of  which  still  retain  their  original  colors. 
In  these  chambers  the  hot,  dry  air  is  like  that  of  the 
desert.  A  hundred  years  seem  like  a  day  in  this 
atmosphere,  where  nothing  changes  with  the  chang- 
ing seasons.  Under  one's  feet  is  the  soft,  dry  dust 
stirred  up  by  the  feet  of  many  tourists,  but  rain  and 
sunshine  never  penetrate  this  home  of  the  dead,  and 
a  century  passes  without  leaving  a  mark  on  these 
inscriptions  which  were  chiseled  long  before  the 
children  of  Israel  made  their  escape  from  bondage 
in  Egypt.  It  seems  incredible  that  so  many  mo- 
mentous things  should  have  occurred  while  in  these 
still,  warm  tombs  day  followed  day  without  change. 


[164] 


PLATE   LVII 

A  Typical  Street  in  Old  Cairo. 

These  Buildings  Show  the  Architecture  of  Cairo, 

With  a  Mosque  on  the  Left  With  Dome 

and  Minaret 


0.   < 


•>  «  =:  r"  ,0   o 

So?  d^z 

i:  u  ^  .2  U  >, 

'^  <  i^  <3  -g  '^ 


o    ^ 


PLATE   LIX 

Women  Water  Carriers  in  Turkish  Costume. 

One  of  These  Women  '«  Uncovered,  While  the 

Other  Wears  the  Yashmak   or  Face    IVlask. 

They  Carry  Large  Water  Jars  on 

Their  Heads 


PLATE   LX 

The  Rameseon  at  Karnak. 

Six  Colossal  Statues  of  Rameses  II  of  Which  Three 

Are  in  Fair  Preservation 


— <  ?  ^  r  r  3 


>2i 


^    X 


=2  -« 


S    CO  •£        ~C«     M 

><-      «   J     «*^ 
_     °   J<    ^    ^     >, 

,>^  o  •«  .2 
CQ 


PLATE  LXIII 

The  Colossi  of  Memnon,  near  Thebes. 

These  Gigantic  Figures  on  the  West  Bank  of  the 

Nile  May  Be  Seen  for  Many  Miles.    They  are 

Sixty-iive  Feet  High,  and  Stood  Originally 

in  Front  of  a  Temple 


PLATE    LXIV 
The  Great  Sphinx,  Showing  the  Temple 
Underneath.     This  is  the  Best  View  of  the  Face, 
Which  Has  a  Certain  Majesty.    The  Lion's  Fig- 
ure is  Sixty-six  Feet  High  and  One  Hundred 
and  Eighty-seven  Feet  Long 


APPENDIX 


Hints  for  Travelers 

Some  Suggestions  That  May  Save  the 

Tourist  Time  and  Money 

FOR  a  round-the-world  trip  the  best  plan  is  to  buy  a  Cook's  ticket 
tor  six  hundred  and  thirty-nine  dollars  and  ten  cents.  This  pro- 
vides transportation  from  any  place  in  the  United  States  around  the 
world  to  the  starting  point.  The  advantage  of  a  Cook's  ticket  over 
the  tickets  of  other  companies  is  that  this  firm  has  the  best  organized 
force,  with  large  offices  in  the  big  cities  and  with  banks  as  agencies 
in  hundreds  of  places  where  you  may  cash  its  money  orders.  This 
is  a  great  convenience  as  it  saves  the  risk  of  carrying  considerable 
sums  of  money  in  lands  where  thievery  is  a  fine  art.  Cook's  agents 
may  be  found  on  arrival  by  boat  or  train  in  all  the  principal  cities 
of  a  world-tour.  These  men  invariably  speak  English  well,  and  thus 
they  are  a  god-send  when  the  tourist  knows  nothing  of  the  language 
or  the  customs  of  a  strange  country.  At  the  offices  of  Cook  and  Son 
in  all  the  large  Oriental  cities  one  may  get  accurate  information  about 
boats  and  trains  and  may  purchase  tickets  for  side  excursions.  Some 
of  the  Oriental  offices  I  found  careless  in  the  handling  of  mail  because 
of  the  employment  of  native  clerks,  but  this  was  not  general.  Cook 
will  furnish  guides  for  the  leading  Oriental  tours  and  in  India  and 
Egypt  these  are  absolutely  necessary,  as  without  them  life  is  made  a 
burden  by  the  demands  of  carriage  drivers,  hotel  servants  and  beggars. 
Cook  will  furnish  good  guides  for  Japan,  but  it  is  unsafe  to  select 
natives  unless  you  have  a  guarantee  that  they  know  the  places  usually 
visited  and  that  they  speak  intelligible  English.  The  pronunciation 
of  Japanese  differs  so  vitally  from  that  of  English  that  many  Japanese 
who  understand  and  write  English  well  make  a  hopeless  jumble  of 
words  when  they  attempt  to  speik  it.  Their  failure  to  open  their 
mouths  or  to  give  emphasis  to  words  renders  it  extremely  difficult 
to  understand  them.  Good  foreign  hotels  may  be  found  in  all  the 
Japanese  cities  and  even  those  managed  by  Japanese  are  conducted 
in  European  style.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  hotels  are  not  modeled  on 
the  Japanese  style,  like  the  Kanaya  Hotel  at  Nikko,  where  the 
furniture  and  the  decorations  of  the  rooms  are  essentially  Japanese 
and  very  artistic.  The  average  charge  for  room  and  board  in 
Japanese  hotels  of  the  first  class  is  four  dollars,  but  some  of  the 
more  pretentious  places  demand  from  five  to  six  dollars  a  day. 


[.67] 


Hints  for  Travelers 

The  cost  of  travel  in  India  is  not  heavy  because  of  the  moder- 
ate scale  of  prices.  Hotels  usually  charge  ten  rupees  a  day  for 
board  and  lodging  or  about  three  dollars  a  day.  Carriage  hire  is 
cheap,  especially  if  you  have  a  party  of  four  to  fill  one  carriage.  A 
Victoria,  holding  four  people,  may  be  had  morning  and  afternoon 
for  twenty  rupees,  or  an  average  of  about  one  dollar  and  seventy- 
five  cents  a  day  each.  Railway  travel  is  absurdly  cheap.  Our  party 
traveled  second-class  from  Calcutta  to  Delhi,  thence  to  Bombay, 
Madras  and  Tuticorin,  a  distance  of  about  thirty-five  hundred  miles  — 
farther  than  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco— for  one  hundred  and 
forty  rupees  or  about  forty -five  dollars  in  American  money.  The 
first-class  fare  was  nearly  twice  this  amount,  but  no  additional  com- 
fort would  have  been  secured.  We  made  the  trip  at  low  cost 
because  a  bargain  was  always  made  with  hotelkecpers  and  carriage 
drivers.  Always  make  a  definite  bargain  or  you  will  be  overcharged. 
A  native  guide  is  necessary  not  only  to  show  you  the  places  of 
interest  but  to  arrange  for  carriages  and  to  pay  tips  to  servants. 
Secure  a  Mohammedan  guide  and  you  may  rest  content  that  you 
will  not  be  cheated.  His  antipathy  to  the  Hindoo  will  prevent  any 
collusion  with  servants.  A  good  guide  may  be  had  for  two  rupees  a 
day  or  about  sixty-five  cents,  and  he  will  board  himself. 

Murray's  Guide  books  for  Japan,  China,  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments and  India  are  the  most  useful.  These  give  the  best  routes  and 
describe  all  the  principal  objects  of  interest.  Without  such  a  guide- 
book, one  is  helpless,  as  the  professional  guides  frequently  omit  im- 
portant things  which  should  be  seen.  It  is  needless  to  look  for  con- 
scientiousness or  honesty  in  the  Orient.   You  will  not  find  them. 

To  avoid  trouble  when  hiring  carriage  or  jinrikisha,  make  a 
definite  bargain  by  the  hour  or  by  the  trip.  This  you  may  do 
through  the  hotel  porter.  Then,  on  your  return,  if  the  driver  or  the 
rickshaw-man  demands  more,  refer  the  matter  to  the  porter,  and 
refuse  to  pay  more  than  your  bargain.  If  you  do  not  take  these  pre- 
cautions you  will  be  involved  in  constant  trouble  and  will  be  per- 
sistently charged  twice  what  you  should  pay.  Even  with  these 
precautions,  you  cannot  escape  trouble  in  Singapore,  which  is  cursed 
with  the  greediest  carriage  drivers  in  the  world. 

Many  travelers  purchase  Cook's  hotel  coupons  which  provide 
for  lodging  and  meals  at  certain  hotels  in  every  large  city  of  the 
Orient.  My  experience  is  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  buy  these  coupons, 
as  all  the  hotel  managers  speak  English  or  have  hall  porters  who 
understand  the  language.  You  gain  little  by  the  arrangement,  and 
you  lose  the  choice  of  good  rooms,  as  hotel  managers  are  not  partial 
to  tourists  who  carry  coupons,  since  the  profit  on  these  is  small. 


[i68] 


Hints  for  Travelers 

In  Egypt,  Cook's  tours,  which  are  arranged  to  suit  all  tastes, 
are  the  most  convenient.  The  best  plan  is  to  go  up  the  Nile  by 
train  and  to  come  down  by  boat.  Do  not  neglect  the  ride  down 
the  river.  It  consumes  more  time  but  it  is  the  only  way  in  which 
you  can  get  an  idea  of  the  charm  of  the  scenery,  the  primitive  life 
of  the  people,  and  the  beauty  of  sunrise  and  sunset  over  the  desert. 

Above  all  things,  arrange  your  itinerary  carefully  before  you 
start.  Here  is  where  Cook's  agent  can  help  you  materially,  but  you 
must  not  rely  upon  his  advice  in  regard  to  steamship  lines.  He  will 
recommend  the  P.  &  O.  boats,  as  they  are  British,  but  practically 
every  tourist  who  has  made  the  trip  will  say  that  the  North  German 
Lloyd  steamers  give  the  best  service.  Engage  your  state-room 
several  months  in  advance  and  pay  a  deposit,  so  as  to  get  a  receipt 
for  the  best  berth  in  a  certain  room.  Unless  you  do  this,  you  will 
have  trouble  and  will  probably  be  forced  to  sleep  in  an  inside  room 
on  hot  tropical  nights.  Get  a  room  on  star-board  or  port-side, 
according  to  the  prevailing  wind.  To  be  on  the  windward  side 
means  comfort  and  coolness  at  night.  As  soon  as  possible  after 
boarding  a  vessel  see  the  bath  steward  and  select  an  hour  for  your 
morning  bath.  Should  you  neglect  this,  you  will  be  forced  to  rise 
very  early  or  to  bathe  at  night.  If  you  wish  certain  table  com- 
panions see  the  head  steward  promptly .  If  you  travel  on  a  P.  &0. 
boat,  engage  an  electric  fan  at  the  Company's  office,  as  there  is  a 
rule  that  you  can't  hire  a  fan  after  you  are  on  board.  The  North 
German  Lloyd  furnishes  fans,  which  are  a  necessity  in  the  tropics. 

There  is  a  regular  tariff  for  tips  on  most  of  the  Oriental  steam- 
ship lines,  graded  according  to  the  length  of  the  voyage.  You  can 
always  ascertain  what  to  give  to  your  waiter,  room  steward,  bath 
steward,  boot  black  and  deck  steward.  These  tips  are  always  given 
on  the  last  day  of  the  voyage.  American  tourists  are  criminally  lavish 
in  giving  tips,  with  the  result  that  one  who  adheres  to  the  rules  of 
old  travelers,  is  apt  to  be  regarded  as  niggardly.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  richest  travelers  always  conform  to  theregular  schedule  of  tips. 

In  all  parts  of  the  Orient  it  is  unsafe  to  drink  the  water  of  the 
country.  If  you  do  not  relish  boi;led  waters,  demand  tea ;  at  any 
rati  make  sure  that  the  water  you  drink  has  been  boiled.  I  found 
hot  tea  an  excellent  drink  even  in  the  tropics  and  I  was  never 
troubled  with  the  complaints  that  follow  drinking  unboiled  water. 
It  is  well  to  make  liberal  use  of  the  curries  and  rice  which  are  ex- 
cellent everywhere.  These,  with  fish,  eggs  and  fruit,  formed  the 
staple  of  my  diet.  Never  eat  melons  nor  salads  made  of  green 
vegetables;  the  native  methods  of  fertilizing  the  soil  are  fatal  to  the 
wholesomeness  of  such  things. 


[.69] 


Bibliography 

Books  Which  Help  One  to  Understand 

THE  Orient  and  Its  People 

IN  this  bibliography  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  cover  the  field 
of  books  about  the  leading  countries  of  the  Orient.  The  aim  has 
been  to  mention  the  books  which  the  tourist  will  find  most  helpful. 
Guide  books  are  indispensable,  but  they  give  the  imagination  no 
stimulus.  It  is  a  positive  help  to  read  one  or  two  good  descriptive 
accounts  of  any  country  before  visiting  it ;  in  this  way  one  gets  an 
idea  of  comparative  values.  In  these  notes  I  have  mentioned  only 
the  books  that  are  familiar  to  me  and  which  I  have  found  suggestive. 

JAPAN 

Of  all  foreigners  who  have  written  about  Japan,  Lafcadio  Heam 
gives  one  the  best  idea  of  the  Japanese  charafter  and  of  the  literature 
that  is  its  expression.  Hearn  married  a  Japanese  lady,  became  Pro- 
fessor of  English  Literature  at  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokio, 
renounced  his  American  citizenship,  and  professed  belief  in  Bud- 
dhism. He  never  mastered  the  Japanese  language  but  he  surpassed 
every  other  foreign  student  in  his  ability  to  make  real  the  singular 
faith  of  the  Japanese  in  the  presence  of  good  and  evil  spirits  and 
the  national  worship  of  beauty  in  nature  and  art.  Hearn 's  father 
was  Greek  and  his  mother  Irish.  In  mind  he  was  a  strange  mix- 
ture of  a  Florentine  of  the  Renaissance  and  a  pagan  of  the  age  of 
Pericles.  In  The  West  Indies  he  has  given  the  best  estimate  of  the 
influence  of  the  tropics  on  the  white  man,  and  in  Japan:  An  Inter- 
pretation, In  Ghostly  Japan,  Exotics  and  Retrospections,  and  others, 
he  has  recorded  in  exquisite  literary  style  his  conception  of  Japanese 
character,  myths  and  folk-legends.  His  work  in  this  department  is 
so  fine  that  no  one  else  ranks  with  him.  He  seems  to  have  been 
able  to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  the  cultivated  Japanese  and  to 
interpret  the  curious  national  beliefs  in  good  and  evil  spirits  and 
ghosts.  He  has  also  made  more  real  than  any  other  foreign  writer 
the  peculiar  position  of  the  Japanese  wife.  Hearn  was  a  conserva- 
tive, despite  his  lawless  life,  and  he  looked  with  regret  upon  the 
transformation  of  old  Japan,  wrought  by  the  new  desire  to  European- 
ize  the  country.  He  paints  with  great  art  the  idyllic  life  of  the  old 
Samauri  and  the  loyalty  of  the  retabers  to  their  chief. 

[•71] 


Bibliography 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  who  in  his  old  age  married  a  Japanese  lady, 
has  given  excellent  pictures  of  life  in  Japan  in  Seas  and  Lands  and 
Japonica.  Religions  of  Japan  by  W.  E.  Griffis  gives  a  good  idea 
of  the  various  creeds.  Mr.  Griffis  in  The  Mikado's  Empire  also 
furnishes  a  good  description  of  Japan  and  the  Japanese. 

In  Fifty  Tears  of  New  Japan,  Count  Okuma  has  compiled  a 
work  that  gives  a  complete  survey  of  Japanese  progress  during  the  last 
half  century.  Among  the  contributors  are  many  of  the  leading  states- 
men and  publicists  of  Japan. 

Of  fiction,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  Japan,  one  of  the  most 
famous  stories  is  Madame  Chrysantheme  by  Pierre  Loti,  a  cynical 
sketch  of  the  Japanese  geisha,  or  professional  entertainer.  Another 
good  story  which  lays  bare  the  ugly  fate  that  often  befalls  the  geisha, 
is  The  Lady  and  Sada  San  by  Frances  Little,  the  author  of  that 
popular  book,  The  Lady  of  the  Decoration. 

Other  books  that  will  be  found  valuable  are  Norman,  The  New 
Japan;  Chamberlain,  Things  Japanese;  Treves,  The  Other  Side  of 
the  Lantern;  Murray,  Handbook  of  Japan;  Clement,  Handbook  of 
Modern  Japan;  D'Autremer,  The  Japanese  Empire;  Hartshorne, 
Japan  and  Her  People;  Eraser,  A  Diplomatist's  Wife  In  Japan; 
Lloyd,  Everyday  Japan;  Scidmore,  Jinrikisha  Days  In  Japan; 
Knox,  Japanese  Life  In  Town  and  Country;  Singleton,  Japan^  As 
Described  By  Great  Writers;  Inouye,  Home  Life  In  Tokio. 

MANILA 

The  acqusition  of  the  Philippine  Islands  by  the  United  States 
has  led  to  a  great  increase  of  the  literature  on  the  islands,  especially 
in  regard  to  educational  and  industrial  progress.  Among  the  old 
books  that  have  good  sketches  of  Manila  are  A  V^isit  to  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  by  Sir  John  Browning. 

For  sketches  of  the  city  since  the  American  occupation  see 
Worcester,  The  Philippine  Islands  and  Their  People;  Landor,  The 
Gems  of  the  East;  Dennis,  An  Observer  in  the  Philippines ;  Potter, 
The  East  To-day  and  Tomorrow;  Moses,  Unofficial  Letters  of  An 
Official' s  Wife;  Hamm,  Manila  and  the  Philippines ;  Younghus- 
band.  The  Philippines  and  Round  About;  Stevens,  Yesterdays  in  the 
Philippines ;  Arnold,  The  Philippines,  the  Land  of  Palm  and  Pine; 
and  LeRoy,  Philippine  Life  in  Town  and  Country. 

HONGKONG 

Good  descriptive  sketches  of  Hongkong  may  be  found  in  Nor- 
man, The  Peoples  and  Politics  of  the  Far  East;  Des  Veux,  A  Hand- 
book  of  Hongkong;  Colquhoun,  China  in  Transformation;  Penfield, 

[172] 


Bibliography 

East  of  Suez;  Treves,  The  Other  Side  of  the  Lantern;  Ball,  Things 
Chinese;  Thomson,  The  Changing  Chinese;  Singleton,  China  As 
Described  by  Great  Writers;  and  LiddcU,  China,  Its  Marvel  and 
Mystery. 

SINGAPORE 

Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  the  founder  of  Singapore,  was  one  of  the 
British  Empire  builders  who  was  very  shabbily  treated  by  the  English 
government.  Unaided,  he  prevented  the  Dutch  from  obtaining  ex- 
clusive control  over  all  the  waters  about  Singapore  and  he  was  also 
instrumental  in  retaining  Malacca,  after  the  East  India  Company  had 
decided  to  abandon  it.  He  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Java  after  the  English  wrested  the  island  from  the  Dutch  in  1810. 
His  ambition  was  to  make  Java  *'the  center  of  an  Eastern  Insular 
Empire,"  but  this  project  was  thwarted  by  the  restoration  of  Java 
to  Holland.  The  Raffles  Museum  in  Singapore,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  in  the  Orient,  was  his  gift. 

Sketches  of  Singapore  may  be  found  in  Sir  Frank  Swettenham's 
British  Malaya^  Malay  Sketches  and  The  Real  Malay;  Wright  and 
Reed,  The  Malay  Peninsula;  Belfield,  Handbook  of  the  Federated 
Malay  States;  Harrison,  Illustrated  Guide  to  the  Federated  Malay 
States;  Ireland,  The  Far  Eastern  Tropics;  Boulger,  Life  of  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles;  Buckley,  Records  of  Singapore. 

RANGOON 

There  is  a  large  literature  on  Burma,  which  seems  to  have  ap- 
pealed to  British  travelers.  Among  the  books  that  have  chapters 
devoted  to  Rangoon  are  Cuming,  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Pagoda; 
Bird,  Wanderings  in  Burma;  Hart,  PiBuresque  Burma;  Kelly,  The 
Silken  East;  MacMahon,  Far  Cathay  and  Farther  India;  Vincent, 
The  Land  of  the  White  Elephant;  Nisbct,  Burma  Under  British 
Rule  and  Before;  Hall,  The  Soul  of  a  People  and  A  People  at  School. 

INDIA 

The  literature  about  India  is  very  extensive,  so  that  only  a  few 
of  the  best  books  may  be  mentioned  here.  To  the  tourist  the  one 
indispensable  book  is  Murray's  Handbook  for  Travelers  in  India, 
Ceylon  and  Burma,  which  is  well  provided  with  maps  and  plans  of 
cities.  For  general  description,  among  the  best  works  are  Malcolm, 
Indian  PiUures  and  Problems;  Scidmore,  Winter  India ;  Forrest, 
Cities  of  India;  Kipling,  From  Sea  to  Sea\  Stevens,  In  India; 
Arnold,  India  Revisited;  Low,  A  Vision  of  India  (describing  the 
journey  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  1905-6);  Caine,  PiSuresque 
India;  Things  Seen  in  India. 


[173] 


Bibliography 

For  the  history  of  India,  some  of  the  best  books  are  Lane- 
Poole,  Mediaval  India  and  The  Mogul  Emperors ;  Fanshawe,  Delhi^ 
Past  and  Present;  McCrindle,  Ancient  India;  Rhys-Davids,  British 
India;  Roberts,  Forty-one  Tears  in  India;  Holmes,  History  of  the 
Indian  Mutiny;  Inncs,  The  Sepoy  Revolt;  Curzon,  Russia  in  Central 
Asia;  Colquhoun,  Russia  Against  India. 

On  the  religions  of  India:  Rhys-Davids,  Buddhism;  Warren, 
Buddhism  in  Translations;  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Religions;  Hopkins, 
Religions  of  India;  Arnold,  The  Light  of  Asia. 

EGYPT 

Egypt  has  changed  so  much  during  the  last  twenty  years  that 
books  written  before  that  time  are  practically  obsolete.  The  daha- 
biyeh  is  no  longer  used  for  Nile  travel,  except  by  tourists  of  means 
and  large  leisure,  since  the  tourist  steamers  make  the  trip  up  and 
down  the  Nile  in  one  quarter  the  time  consumed  by  the  old  sailing 
vessels.  Cairo  has  been  transformed  into  a  European  city  and  even 
Luxor  is  modernized,  with  its  immense  hotels  and  its  big  foreign 
winter  colony. 

Basdeker's  Egypt  is  the  best  guide  book,  but  be  sure  that  you 
get  the  latest  edition,  as  the  work  is  revised  every  two  or  three 
years.  The  introductory  essays  in  this  volume  on  Egyptian  history, 
religion,  art  and  Egyptology  are  well  worth  careful  reading.  The 
descriptions  of  the  ruins  and  the  significance  of  many  of  the  hiero- 
glyphs are  helpful.  Of  general  descriptive  works  on  Egypt,  some 
of  the  best  are  Penfield,  Present  Day  Egypt  (i  899)  ;  Jeremiah  Lynch, 
Egyptian  Sketches,  a  book  by  a  San  Franciscan  which  gives  a  series 
of  readable  pictures  of  Cairo  and  the  voyage  up  the  Nile;  Holland, 
Things  Seen  in  Egypt. 

Of  Egypt,  before  it  was  transformed  by  the  British,  standard 
works  are  Lane,  Cairo  Fifty  Tears  Ago;  Lady  DufF-Gordon,  Let- 
ters From  Egypt  (covering  the  period  from  1862  to  1869).  Good 
historical  works  are  Lane-Poole,  Egypt,  and  the  Story  of  Cairo; 
Ebers,  Egypt,  Descriptive,  Historical,  and  PiSiuresque. 

Of  the  administration  of  England  in  Egypt,  the  best  book  is 
Lord  Cromer's  Modern  Egypt.  Other  works  are  Milner,  England 
in  Egypt;  Colvin,  The  Making  of  Modern  Egypt.  The  story  of 
Gordon's  death  at  Khartoum  is  well  told  in  Stevens,  With  Kitchener 
to  Khartoum  and  Churchill,  The  River  War. 

Several  valuable  works  on  Egyptian  archeology  have  been 
written  by  Maspero  and  Flinders-Petrie.  Maspero's  Art  in  Egypt, 
which  is  lavishly  illustrated,  will  be  valuable  as  a  guide  book.  Flind- 
ers-Petrie's  Egyptian  Decorative  Art  is  worth  reading. 


[174] 


Index 


Agra,  East  Indian  city  of  inter- 
esting features,  ill;  the  Taj 
Mahal,  I  iz-i  i6 

Arjmand,  favorite  wife  of  Shah 
Jchan,  for  whom  the  Taj  was 
built,  1 1  2 

Benares,  sacred  city  of  the  Hin- 
doos, 100-105;  bathing  ghats 
along  the  Ganges,  1 00- 102;  toll 
levied  by  priests  on  all  bathers, 
103  ;  burning  the  dead  by  the 
river  banks,  104-105;  funeral 
ceremonies,  105 

Bombay,  gateway  of  India,  123- 
134;  beauty  of  public  buildmgs, 
123-124;  the  Apollo  Bunder, 
124*  importance  of  the  Parsees 
in  city  life,  1  24- 1  26  ;  reception 
to  King  George  V,  1  27  ;  holiday 
street  scenes,  128  ;  religion  and 
customs  of  the  Parsees,  1 29- 
130;  weddingceremonies,  132; 
"Towers  of  Silence"  where 
dead  are  exposed  to  vultures, 

i33-'34 

Buddhism,  temples  at  Nikko,  17; 
greatest  temple,  the  Shwe  Da- 
gon  Pagoda  at  Rangoon,  90 ;  first 
residence  of  Buddha  at  Sarnath, 
near  Benares,  100 

Cairo,  the  capital  of  Egypt,  137- 
142  ;  much  Europcanized  since 
Ismail's  time,  138-139;  the 
Street  of  the  Camel,  138-140; 
Esbekiyeh  Gardens,  1 40 ;  shop- 
ping in  the  great  Muski  bazar, 
141'  Island  of  Roda,  where 
Moseswas  found,  1 42  •  scenesin 
the  old  native  city,  142 

Calcutta,  greatest  commercial 
port  of  India,  9  5-99 ;  former  cap- 


ital, 95  ;  the  Maidan  or  Esplan- 
ade, 95-96;  Eden  Gardens,  9  5 ; 
scene  of  the  Black  Hole,  96; 
caste  marks,  97  ;  scenes  in  bath- 
ing ghats  on  the  Hoogly,  98- 
native  quarter,  98-99 ;  botanical 
gardens  with  great  banyan  tree, 
99  •  Imperial  Museum,  99 

Canton,  the  great  business  center 
of  China,  72-79;  exodus  of 
people  during  revolution,  73; 
boat  city  on  the  Pearl  river,  73- 
74;  **hot-foot"  boats,  75;  in- 
side the  ancient  walls,  76-77; 
deserted  stores  on  main  street, 
76;  Buddhist  Temple  of  Hor- 
rors, 7  7 ;  great  rush  of  refugees, 
77-78;  scene  of  the  assassination 
of  Tartar  general,  78;  old  Bud- 
dhist water  clock,  78 

Cawnpore,  scene  of  the  worst  mas- 
sacre in  the  Sepoy  mutiny,  109- 
110;  fatal  mistake  of  General 
Wheeler,  109;  treachery  of 
Nana  Sahib,  110;  butchery  of 
women  and  children,  1 1  o 

Chator, Sir  Paul,  whomadeHong- 
kong  a  great  city,  8 1 

Delhi,  ancient  Mogul  capital  of 
India,  1 17-1 22;  tombs  of  Mos- 
lem emperors,  117-1 1 8;  squalor 
of  common  people,  119;  Mogul 
palaces  and  mosques,  1 19-1  20; 
theKutab  Minar,  1  20- 121;  me- 
morialsof  the  mutiny,  121-1  22; 
fighting  at  Kabul  gate,  122 

Egypt,  the  land  of  tombs,  pyramids 
and  mummies,  137-164;  rail- 
road ride  from  Port  Said,  138; 
features  of  the  country,  138- 
139;  Cairo  and  its  picturesque 


['75J 


Index 


life,  138-142;  Luxorand  Karnak 
ruins  of  finest  temples  of  ancient 
Egypt,  1 43-1 49;  Thebes,  tomb 
city  of  the  Egyptian  Kings,  i  50- 
155;  sailingdown  the  Nile,  i  56- 
1 60 ;  Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx, 
1 61 -1 64 

Havelock,  English  General  who 
fought  his  way  into  Lucknow 
and  helped  defend  the  city  against 
hordes  of  mutineers,  108 

Hide  YosHi,  Napoleon  of  Japan,  his 
memory  revered,  19;  his  castle, 

Hongkong,  greatest  British  port  in 
the  Orient,  65-7 1 ;  its  fine  pub- 
lic buildings  and  spacious  water- 
front, 66;  splendid  shops  on 
Queen's  road,  67;  pifturesque 
street  crowds,  68;  mixture  of 
races,  68;  night  scenes  in  native 
quarter,  69  ;  cable  railway  to 
the  peak,  70 ;  costly  residences 
on  mountain  side,  70  •  Kowloon 
City,  71 

India,  the  most  interesting  country 
of  the  Orient,  95-104;  Cal- 
cutta, most  beautiful  of  Indian 
cities,  95-99;  Benares,  the  sa- 
cred city  of  the  Hindoos,  100- 
105*  Lucknow  and  Cawnpore, 
cities  of  the  mutiny,  106-110; 
Agra  and  the  Taj  Mahal,  1 1 1  - 
116;  Delhi,  the  ancient  Mogul 
capital  and  now  the  British  capi- 
tal,! 1 7- 1  22;  Bombay, the  Euro- 
pean gateway  of  India,!  23-1 34; 
the  Parsees  and  their  curious 
customs,  !29-!34 

Japan,  Yokohama,  3  •    aspeft    of 
rural  life,  4;  bull,  the  beast  of 
burden^  5  ;    the   jinrikisha,   5  ; 
great  courtesy  of  all  classes,  6  ; 


women  as  field  hands,  8  •  Tokio, 
the  pidluresque  capital,  !0-!5; 
Nikko,  city  of  temples,  !6-2l  • 
Kyoto,  the  ancient  capital,  fa- 
mous for  gardens  and  art  work, 
22-27;  railway  travel,  22-23  • 
Kobe, 28-3 3  ;  Osaka,chief  man- 
ufacturing city,  29  •  Inland  Sea, 
30;  Nagasaki,  30-32  •  develop, 
ment  of  sense  of  beauty,  34-37 ; 
influence  of  the  garden  on  artis- 
tic sense,  34-35;  are  the  Japan- 
ese honest?  28-39  J  influence  of 
Christianity,  4! -42;  the  sam- 
pan, 43 ;  influence  of  military 
training,  45-46;  loyalty tocoun- 
try,  46-47 

Karnak,  the  greatest  temple  of 
ancient  Egypt,  ! 47- 149;  its 
enormous  size,  !47  ;  itshypostile 
hall,  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world,  !  47- !  48  •  hieroglyphs  of 
Seti  and  Rameses,  !48  •  obelisks 
erected  by  Queen  Hatasu,  148; 
colossal  statues  and  columns, 
148;  cost  in  human  life,  149 

Kobe,  greatest  commercial  seaport 
of  Japan,  28-29;itsmanyforeign 
schools,  colleges  and  missions,  28 

KyoTO,  ancient  Japanese  capital, 
22-27  -richly  decorated  tern  pies, 
24  ;  satsuma,cloissone  and  dama- 
scene work,  24-25;  attractive 
shops,  26  ;greatbronzeDaibutsa, 
26;  oldest  Buddhist  temple  in 
Japan,  27 

Lawrence,  Sir  Henry,  to  whose 
wise  precautions  the  British  in 
Lucknow  owed  their  lives  during 
the  mutiny ;  he  was  killed  in  the 
early  days  of  the  seige,  !07. 

Lucknow,  scene  of  the  most  fa- 
mous siege  in  the  Indian  mutiny. 


[,76] 


Index 


1 06- 1 09 ;  ruinsofthe  Residency, 
1 06 ;  story  ofthe  siege,  107-108; 
mcmorialtablcts  to  Britishheroes, 
108 

Luxor,  with  ruins  of  the  finest  tem- 
ple in  Egypt,  1 43- 1 46 ;  built  by 
Amcnophis  III;  restoredand  en- 
larged by  Rameses  II,  1 43- 1 44; 
plan  of  the  temple,  144-145; 
Rameses  exposed  by  Egyptolo- 
gists, 146;  temple  of  Karnak, 
147-149 

Manila,  capital  of  Philippines  and 
American  naval  base  in  Far  East, 
51-62;  hospitality  of  Americans, 
52;  reenforced  concrete  favorite 
building  material,  52;  its  splen- 
did docks,  52;  the  Escolta,  52; 
the  Bridge  of  Spain,  53;thecara- 
bao  or  water  buffalo,  53;  old 
walled  city,  54 ;  historical  gates, 
54;  famous  churches,  55 ;  doors 
open  to  the  ambitious  Filipino 
youths,  56;  influence  of  Amer- 
ican schools,  56-57;  Dr.  George 
W.  Wright  on  religious  work  in 
Philippines,  56-57;  sanitary  re- 
forms which  have  made  Manila 
healthy  port,  57 ;  work  of  the 
Constabulary  Guard,  5  8 ;  scenes 
on  the  Luneta,  60;  nipa  huts 
of  natives,  61-62;  fondness  of 
people  for  music,  62;  American 
gramophones  in  native  huts,  62 

Nana  Sahib,  the  evil  genius  of  the 
Indian  mutiny,  who  broke  faith 
with  prisoners  at  Cawnpore,  shot 
the  men,andordered  i  2  5  women 
and  children  butchered  and  cast 
into  a  well,  109 

Nara,  seat  of  oldest  temples  in 
Japan,  26-27;  tame  deer  in 
park,  26 


Nicholson,  John,  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, the  ablest  man  the  Indian 
mutiny  produced,  1 2 1 ;  he  led 
the  British  march  on  Delhi  and 
fell  at  the  storming  ofthe  Lahore 
gate,  122 

Nagasaki,  great  Japanese  seaport, 
30-33;  girls  coaling  steamers, 
31-32;  trip  to  Mogi,  33 

NiKKO,  the  Japanese  city  of  temples, 
16-21;  eighth  century  Buddhist 
temple,  1 7  ;  Sacred  Red  Bridge, 
17;  imperial  tombs,  17-19; 
school  pilgrimages,  19;  famous 
cryptomeria  avenue  to  Imaichi, 
20-21 

Nile,  sailing  down  the,  1 56- 1 60 ; 
importance  of  river  to  Egypt, 
156;  ancient  method  of  irriga- 
tion by  shadouf,  157-158;  poor 
pay  for  hard  work,  158;  preva- 
lenceofeyediseases,  I  59;squalid 
homes  of  the  natives,  1 60;  beauty 
of  views  along  the  Nile,  1 60 

Osaka,  Japan's  chief  manufaftur- 
ingcity,  29;  Hideyoshi's  castle, 

Parsees,  importance  in  municipal 
life  of  Bombay,  129;  religion 
that  of  Zoroaster,  I  29- 1 30  ;gifts 
by  rich  Parsee  merchants,  131; 
quaint  marriage  customs,  132; 
towers  of  silence  where  dead  are 
exposed,  133-135 

Pyramids,  among  the  oldest  human 
work  on  earth,  1 61-163;  size 
and  cost  of  construction,  162- 
163;  ascent  of  Gizeh,  163; 
features  of  the  Sphinx,  164; 
rock  tombs  of  Sakkara,  164 

Raffles,  Sir  Stamford,  the  maker 
of  Singapore  and  founder  of 
great  Malayan  museum,  81 


['77] 


Index 


Rangoon,  Burma's  largest  city, 
89-92;  elephants  piling  teak, 
89-90 ;  Shwc  Dagon  Pagoda, 
center  of  the  Buddhist  faith  in 
Orient,  90-9 1  j  splendid  decora- 
tion of  shrines,  91-92 

Shah  Jehan,  the  greatest  builder 
among  the  Mogul  Emperors  of 
India,  who  immortalized  his 
name  by  erecting  the  Taj  Mahal, 
1 12 

Singapore,  gateway  to  the  Far 
East,  80-88;  humidity  of  at- 
mosphere, 80;  world's  largest 
dry  dock,  81;  Sir  Stamford 
Raffles,  8 1 ;  great  mixture  of 
races,  81-82;  traitsof  the  Malay, 
83 ;  importance  of  Chinese,  84- 
85;  night  scenes  in  Malay  and 
Chinese  quarters,  85-87;  large 
opium  dens,  87;  fine  botanical 
gardens,  88 

Taj  Mahal,  the  world's  most 
beautiful  buildingat  Agra,  India, 
1 1 1  - 1 1 6 ;  built  by  Shah  Jehan 
as  memorial  to  favorite  wife, 
112;  cost  in  money  and  human 
life,  1 1 2  ;its  perfect  architecture. 


114;  lavish  decoration,  115; 
restoration  by  Lord  Curzon,  1 1 6 
Thebes,  tomb  city  of  the  ancient 
Egyptian  kings,  1 50- 1555  deso- 
late site  across  the  Nile  from 
Luxor,  1 50- 1 5 1  ;electric-lightcd 
tombs,  I  5 1 J  rock-hewn  tomb 
of  Rameses  IV,  152;  tombs  of 
other  monarchs,  152-153;  only 
onecontainsroyalmummy,  i  54; 
fine  temple  of  Queen  Hatasu, 
153;  the  Ramessium,  with  larg- 
est statue  found  in  Egypt,  154' 
Colossi  of  Memnon,  i  54  •  why 
one  of  the  statues  was  musical, 

ToKio,  the  Japanese  capital,  10- 
15;  its  splendid  parks,  11-13- 
1 4 ;  imperial  palace,  i  3 ;  tombs 
of  six  shoguns,  14;  night  work 
in  shops,  I  5 

Wheeler,  General,  whose  confi- 
dence in  his  native  troops,  cost 
the  lives  of  all  the  garrison  of 
Cawnpore,  109 

Yokohama,  much  Europeanized 
Japanese  city,  3  ;  good  tourist 
outfitting  point,  4 


['78] 


AND  SO  ENDS  THE  CRITIC  IN  THE  ORIENT,  CONTAINING 
THE  IMPRESSIONS  OF  GEORGE  HAMLIN  FITCH  ON  THE 
FIRST  HALF  OF  HIS  TRIP  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  PUB- 
LISHED IN  BOOK  FORM  BY  PAUL  ELDER  &  COMPANY 
AND  SEEN  THROUGH  THEIR  TOMOYE  PRESS  BY  JOHN 
SWART  DURING  THE  MONTH  OF  APRIL,  MCMXIII,  IN 
THE  CITY  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO 


p 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


i'/f 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA      000142134    6 


SMITH  BROS.  S 
Book.t.  Kodaks, 

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